THROUGH  ROUTES 

FOR  CHICAGO'S 
STEAM  RAILROADS 


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HI      iri 

HI  I ' 

THROUGH   ROUTES   FOR  CHICAGO'S 
STEAM   RAILROADS 


1  .'V  5 


(  nv  LIMITS. 


Frontispiece:    MAP  OF  CHICAGO  AND  VICINITY  SHOWING  TENTATIVE  PLAN  FOR  SYSTEM  OF  THROUGH 
ROUTES  FOR  LOCAL  PASSENGER  SERVICE  ON  THE  STEAM  RAILROADS. 


This  plan  was  presented  bj  Mr.  Bion  J.  Arnold  before  the  City  Council  Committee  on  Railway  Terminals,  in 
March,  1914,  not  as  a  definite  scheme  worked  out  in  detail,  but  as  a  preliminary  study  to  show  the  possibility  of  applying 
the  through-routing  principle  to  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  for  local  passenger  service  for  city  and  suburbs. 

The  plan  shows  four  through  routes,  or  through-route  systems,  each  represented  by  a  separate  color  and  formed  by 
connecting  existing  steam  railroads  down  town. 

Solid  lines  indicate  existing  steam  railroads;  dotted  lines  indicate  proposed  downtown  subway  connections;  small  solid 
circles  (or  semi-circles)  indicate  existing  stations  within  the  city  limits;  small  open  circles  (or  semi-circles)  indicate  pro- 
posed new  downtown  stations.  Each  route  has  three  or  more  downtown  stations.  (For  further  description,  sec  pages 
78  and  82.) 


THROUGH    ROUTES 

FOR  CHICAGO'S 
STEAM    RAILROADS 

THE  BEST  MEANS  FOR  ATTAINING  POPULAR  AND  COMFORTABLE  TRAVEL 

FOR  CHICAGO  AND  SUBURBS 


BY 


GEORGE  ELLSWORTH  HOOKER 

CIVIC  SECRETARY  OF  THE  CITY  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO: 
SECRETARY  OF  THE  SPECIAL  STREET  RAILWAY  COMMITTEE. 
CITY  COUNCIL  OF  CHICAGO.  1897-8. 


ILLUSTRATET) 


mmSmm  i 


DprHirAGari 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  CITY  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

315  PLYMOUTH  COURT 
1914 


0* 


COPYRIGHT  1914  BY 

GEORGE   ELLSWORTH   HOOKER 

CHICAGO 


/ 


FOREWORD 


IHIS  book  presents  two  propositions.  The  first  is  that  Chicago's  urgent  need  for  bet- 
ter means  of  fast  and  comfortable  local  travel  should  be  largely  met  by  its  steam 
lines;  the  second  is  that  these  should,  to  that  end,  be  organized  on  the  through- 
route  plan. 

The  steam  lines  are  mostly  elevated  already  above  street  interference,  they  rep- 
resent the  highest  speed  in  travel,  they  fan  out  thickly  over  the  city,  they  have  their  own  rights- 
of-way  and  so  minimize  public  suffering  from  the  noise,  dust  and  danger  incident  to  fast  travel, 
and  they  have  a  wide  margin  of  unused  capacity. 

The  through-route  idea,  making  as  it  does  for  normal  city  development  and  for  the  spread 
of  population,  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  as  the  basic  principle  of  city  planning  for  large 
communities.  Its  application  to  local  travel  routes  is  indispensable  to  sound  and  far-sighted 
cit>'  planning  for  Chicago.  The  idea  is  indeed  accepted  in  practice  now  for  all  local  passen- 
ger railways  in  Chicago  e.xcept  the  steam  lines — which  still  operate  entirely  on  the  ter- 
minal plan. 

It  is  believed  that  a  properly  designed  and  operated  system  of  through  routes  for  local 
travel  on  the  steam  lines  would  constitute,  from  a  broad  city  planning  standpoint,  the  most 
efficient  trunk  factor  for  a  logical  trunk-and-feeder  scheme  of  passenger  travel  for  the  entire 
city  and  its  suburbs,  and  would  yield  more  accommodation  in  rapid  transit  for  the  same  outlay 
than  could  be  secured  in  any  other  way. 

Such  fitness  as  the  author  may  have  for  discussing  this  subject  comes  from  the  investigations 
made  by  him  as  secretan,' of  the  Special  Street  Railway  Committee  of  the  City  Council  of  Chi- 
cago in  1897-8,  and  from  personal  study  before  and  especially  since  then  of  passenger  traffic 
and  housing  conditions  in  American  and  foreign  cities.  The  opinions  here  expressed  were 
first  outlined  by  the  author  in  the  series  of  transportation  discussions  held  by  the  City  Club  last 
year,  and.  so  far  as  known  to  him,  constitute  the  first  advocacy  of  the  idea  that  the  steam  rail- 
roads of  Chicago  ought  to  serve  in  a  large  way  for  local  travel. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Charles  K.  Mohler,  formerly  of  Chicago,  now  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Board  of  Public  Utilities  of  Los  Angeles,  for  several  original  maps  and  other  valuable  data 
here  reproduced.  Acknowledgment  for  maps  and  diagrams  used  is  also  due  to  Mr.  Richard 
Petersen.  Dr.  Rudolf  Hberstadt  and  Professor  Bruno  Mohring  of  Berlin,  the  Citizens'  Ter- 
minal Plan  Committee  of  Chicago,  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission,  the  Board  of  Supervising 
Engineers — Chicago  Traction,  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce  Committee  on  Smoke 
Abatement  and  Electrification,  Mr.  Bion  J.  Arnold,  Mr.  Frederic  A.  Delano,  Mr.  William 
Drummond  and  Mr.  Jarvis  Hunt. 

Mr.  Dwight  L.  Akcrs,  Assistant  Civic  Secretary  of  the  City  Club,  rendered  special  assist- 
ance in  the  final  revision  of  the  text. 

Mr.  Carlo*  Colton  Daughaday  as  editor  in  charge  has  directed  the  work  of  publication. 
Ju.,.,9N.  3,,3,,^  G.E.H. 

III 


CONTENTS 


PAQB 

FOREWORD '" 

I.    THE  ARGUMENT  IN  OUTLINE 9 

II.    STEAM  LINES  BEST  FOR  FAST  LOCAL  TRAVEL  IN  CHICAGO 13 

III.  FOR  EFFICIENCY  CHICAGO'S  STEAM  LINES  NEED  GENERAL  REARRANGEMENT 18 

IV.  THROUGH-ROUTE  PRINCIPLE  ESTABLISHED  IN  CHICAGO-EXCEPT  ON  STEAM  LINES 27 

V.    THROUGH  ROUTES  THE  PARAMOUNT  NEED  FOR  THE  STEAM  LINES  OF  CHICAGO 35 

VL     STEAM  LINE  THROUGH   ROUTES  IN  OPERATION  OR  PROPOSED   ELSEWHERE 49 

VII.     THROUGH  ROUTES  PR.^CTICABLE  ON  CHICAGO'S  STEAM  LINES 69 

VIII.     THE  ARNOLD  SCHEME  FOR  THROUGH  ROUTES  AND  ITS  ADVANTAGES 77 

K.    SUMMARY 87 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE  PAGE 

Frontispiece — ^Tentative  plan  for  system  of  through  routes  for  local  passenger  service  on  the  steam  railroads  of 
Chicago. 

1.  Cartoon — Evanston  to  Hyde  Park:  terminal  routes  vs.  through   route 11 

2.  Map  showing  diffusion  of  Chicago's  population 13 

3.  Diagram  showing  average  speeds  per  hour  of  passenger  travel  in  Chicago 14 

3a.  Diagram  showing  reach  of  half-hour  journeys  by  Chicago's  different  railway  speeds 14 

4.  Number  of  local  railway  passengers  per  year  in  Chicago 15 

5.  Population  map  of  Chicago  showing  area  reached  from  general  post  office  by  half-hour  journeys,  at  average 
speeds,  on  street,  "Elevated"  and  steam  railways 16 

6.  Crowded  street  car  on  south  Halsted  street,  July,  1913 17 

7.  Dust  raised  by  fast-running  street  car 17 

8.  Parked  automobiles  in  "loop"  district — Plymouth  court 17 

9.  Chicago  steam  railroad  map — 1850.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.) 18 

10.  Chicago  steam  railroad  map — 1860.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.) 19 

11.  Chicago  steam  railroad  map — 1910.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.) 20 

12.  Plan  for  rearrangement  of  Chicago's  steam   lines  on    existing   rights-of-way   without   crossings.      (William 
Dnmimond.) 21 

13.  Map  showing  crossings  of  steam  railroads  by  steam  railroads  in  Chicago,  1912.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.)     .      .  22 

14.  Steam  railroad  crossings  at  grade, looking  northeast  from  corner  of  Stewart  avenue  and  Twenty-first  street,  1912  23 

15.  Steam  railroad  crossings  with  grades  separated:  Illinois  Central  line  crossing  over  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 

Fe  line  at  Sixteenth  street  and  Wentworth  avenue.     1914 23 

16.  Map  of  Chicago  showing  proposed  concentration  of  steam  lines  upon  three  approaches  to  business  district. 
(Jar>is  Hunt,  1913.) 24 

17.  Map  showing  the  seven  main  railway  entrances  into  Chicago.     (Frederic  A.  Delano,  1913.) 26 

18.  Map  showing  diagonal  roads  approaching  Chicago's  business  district 27 

19.  Map  showing  proposed  new  or  widened  streets — Commercial  Club  "Plan  of  Chicago",  1909 27 

20.  Maps  showing  Chicago's  divisional  street  car  systems,  1896 28 

21.  Map  of  Chicago  showing  the  through  routes  required  by  street  railway  ordinances  of  1907 29 

22.  Car  blockade  on  Clark  street,  Chicago,  due  to  switch-back  operation  at  Washington  street:  looking  north 
from  Monroe  street 30 

23.  Plan  showing  terminal  routing  on  Chicago's  "Elevated"  lines,  1897 31 

24.  Plan  showing  "loop  back"  routing  on  Chicago's  "Elevated"  lines,  1913 32 

25.  Train  blockade  on  "Elevated"  loop,  Chicago,  Fifth  avenue  looking  north  from  Van  Buren  street,  1912     .      .  33 

26.  Plan  showing  partial  through  routing  on  the  "Elevated"  lines  of  Chicago,  1914 34 

27.  Map  showing  location  of  Chicago's  steam  passenger  terminals,  1914 35 

28.  Typical  country  town  hitching  rail 36 

29.  View  in  business  district  of  Chicago  looking  northwest  from  Transportation  building 37 

30.  Interior  of  train  shed  of  Grand  Central  passenger  terminal,  Chicago 38 

31.  T)-pical  waiting  room  in  a  railroad  terminal 38 

32.  Busses  and  cabs  at  Dearborn  street  terminal,  Chicago 38 

33.  Street  railway  terminal — with  idle  cars — opposite  Dearborn  St.  steam  railroad  terminal,  Chicago  ....  38 

34.  Cab  stand  space  at  railroad  terminal,  Brussels 38 

35.  Suggotion  for  improved  method  of  handling  baggage  and  express  at  stations.     (August  Scherl.)     ....  38 
36-     One  of  the  two  sub-story  train  yards  of  the  new  Grand  Central  passenger  terminal.  New  York 39 

37.  Train  shed  and  yard  of  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  passenger  terminal,  Chicago.     1914       ....  40 

38.  Randolph  street,  crossing  under  train  yard  of  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  terminal.    Looking  east.  1913  40 

39.  Map  showing  ground  area  of  the  new  Grand  Central  terminal.  New  York 41' 

40.  South  Union  passenger  terminal — train  shed  and  yard,  Boston 41 

41.  Through-route  railroad  station  at  Dresden 41 

42.  Through-route  steam  line  crowing  above  important  street  in  Vienna 41 

43.  Map  showing  area  of  steam  railroad  ownership  in  central  business  district  of  Chicago,   1913.     (Arnold  Rail- 
road Terminal  Report.) 42 

44.  Map  of  central  district  of  Chicago  showing  streets  closed,  and  streets  normally  required  but  never  laid  out, 
1912.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.) 43 

45.  Map  showing  through  streets  in  the  central  district  of  Chicago,  1912.     (Charles  K.  Mohler.)       ....  44 

46.  Land  undeveloped  at  touthwrest  comer  of  Canal  and  Polk  streets,  1913 45 

•^  VII 


•    '.'.'  .   -;  ILLUSTRATIONS 

'*«plXts."  '''■"::    '  ■•'      •  page 

*' 

47.  Where  railroad  and  business  property  meet;  view  looking  north   from  Twelfth  street,  east  of  Fifth  avenue. 

(Arnold  Railroad  Terminal  Report,  1913.) 45 

48.  Cross  section  of  the  new  Grand  Central  terminal.  New  York 46 

49.  Passenger  terminal  of  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  Chicago 47 

50.  Rush  of  passengers  at  Manhattan  end  of  Brooklyn  Bridge 47 

51.  Diagrams  illustrating  relative  efficiency — in  number  of   different  possible   rides — of  terminal  routing  and   of 
through  routing 48 

52.  A  concrete  illustration  of  the  increase  by  through  routing  of  the  number  of  different  possible  rides  ....  48 

53.  Maps  of  London  steam  railroads,  1845  and  1860 49 

54.  Map  of  London  underground  electric  railways,  1910 50 

55.  Map  of  street-and-railroad  arteries  suggested  for  London  by  Royal  Commission  on  London  Traffic,  1905  .      .  51 

56.  Map  of  Paris  steam  railroads,  1898 52 

57.  Map  of  Paris  underground  electric  railways,  1913 53 

58.  Steam  railroad  map  of  Paris  showing  two  steam  lines  extended  into  interior  of  the  city,  1900 54 

59.  Plans  showing  historical  development  of  steam  railroads  of  Berlin  ,1838-1906 55 

60.  Plan  of  steam  railroads  in  and  around  Berlin 56 

61.  Typical  through-route  station,  Alexanderplatz,  Berlin  Stadtbahn 57 

62.  Plan  showing  Berlin  steam  lines,  and  the  volume  of  local  passenger  traffic  at  each  station  of  the  Stadtbahn  and 

the  Ringbahn 58 

63.  Plan  showing  volume  of  local  passenger  flow  on  different  routes  of  Berlin  steam  railroads.      (Richard  Peter- 
sen, 1911.) 59 

64.  Proposed  through-route  plan  for  long  distance  passenger  railroads  of  Berlin.      (Eberstadt,  Mohring,  Petersen, 
1910.) 60 

65.  Proposed  through-route  plan  for  local  passenger  railroads  of  Greater  Berlin.      (Eberstadt,   Mohring,   Peter- 
sen, 1910.) 61 

66.  Map  of  Copenhagen  showing  abandoned  steam  terminal  system,  and  substituted  through-route  system  nearing 
completion,  1913 62 

67.  Map  showing  the  two  existing  steam  passenger  terminals  in  Brussels,  and  the  tunnel  connection  to  be  built  for 
through-route  operation 63 

68.  Map  of  Pittsburgh  and  vicinity,  showing  through  steam  route  for  local  passenger  service,  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road system 64 

69.  Steam  railroad  map  of  Boston,  1865 ' 65 

70.  Map  of  Boston  and  vicinity  showing  steam  railroads  grouped  in  two  passenger  terminals,  1898 66 

71.  Plan  showing  four-track  tunnel  link  recommended  by  the  Boston  Metropolitan  Improvements  Commission  to 
connect  the  railroads  of  Boston's  two  passenger  terminals,  1909 67 

72.  Map  showing  the  amount,  and  extent  of  use,  of  railroad  property  in  Chicago's  downtown  area.     (Arnold  Rail- 
road Terminal  Report,  1913.) 68 

73.  View  south  from  a  point  near  Dearborn  and  Polk  streets,  Chicago,  showing  railroad  occupation,  1913  ...  69 

74.  Map  of  steam  railroads  of  Chicago  and  vicinity,  distinguishing  by  a  particular  color  the  lines  entering  each  of 

the  six  passenger  terminals,  1912 70  &  71 

75.  Map  showing  steam  passenger  lines  entering  the  Union  passenger  terminal,  Chicago 72 

76.  Map  showing  steam  passenger  lines  entering  Chicago  &  Northwestern  terminal,  the  Illinois  Central  terminal 

(at  Randolph  street)  and  the  La  Salle  street  terminal,  Chicago 73 

77.  Diagram  showing  inbound  and  outbound  local  passenger  car  flow  on  the  various  steam  lines  of  Chicago  during 

the  evening  rush  hour.     (Arnold  Railroad  Terminal  Report,  1913.) 74 

78.  Map  showing  location  of  passenger  coach  yards  of  the  steam  lines  in  Chicago.     1913 75 

79.  Typical  plan  for  high-speed  passenger  routes  of  a  great  city.      (Richard  Petersen,  1911.) 76 

80.  Typical  plan  for  high-speed  passenger  routes,  applied  to  water-front  city 76 

81.  Map  showing  possible  through  steam  routes  for  Chicago,  suggested  by  Bion  J.  Arnold,  1914.    (Shown  in  colors 

in  frontispiece.) 78 

82.  Map  showing  possible  north-south  mid-Chicago  through  route  on  steam  lines,  three  miles  west  of  "loop"  district  80 

83.  Downtown  detail  of  plan  suggested  by  Bion  J.  Arnold  for  through  steam  routes  for  Chicago,  1914  ....  82 
84-86.     Three  maps  showing  relative  extent  of: 

(1)  Proposed  "comprehensive"  subway  system  for  Chicago,  1913 84 

(2)  Existing  "Elevated"  railroad  system  of  Chicago,   1914 84 

(3)  Suggested  through-route  system  on  steam  railroads  of  Chicago,  1914 85 

Design  for  final  chapter  heading 87 

Ylll 


THROUGH   ROUTES  FOR  CHICAGO'S  STEAM 

RAILROADS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  ARGUMENT  IN  OUTLINE. 

URS  is,  for  its  number  of  people,  the  most  spread-out  community  in  the  world. 
More  than  any  other,  therefore,  it  needs  means  of  rapid  and  comfortable  passenger 
travel  both  within  and  without  the  city  limits.  In  actual  fact,  however,  Chicago 
does  not  travel  either  rapidly  or  comfortably. 

The  following  figures  have  been  secured  from  reliable  sources  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  local  railway  passengers  per  year  in  Chicago  and  the  approximate  speeds  at  which  they 
travel — the  average  speeds  for  the  "Elevated"  and  steam  lines  being  obtained  by  combining  their 
respective  local  and  express  schedules. 

Street  railway  passengers  (excluding  transfers) 600,000,000,  average  speed—  9  miles  per  hour 

"Elevated"  railway  passengers 164,000,000,  average  speed— 14  miles  per  hour 

Steam  railway  passengers  (approximately) 41,500,000,  average  speed— 24  miles  per  hour 

The  street  cars  of  Chicago,  if  operated  at  a  speed  appropriate  for  long  hauls,  become  dan- 
gerous, deluge  people  with  dust  and  deafen  them  with  noise — in  short,  become  inappropriate 
for  the  public  streets.  The  elevated  electric  lines  are  faster  than  the  street  railways,  but  are 
slower  and  ramify  less  widely  than  the  steam  lines.  For  a  considerable  fraction  of  the  600  mil- 
lion street  railway  passengers  and  the  164  million  elevated  railway  passengers  the  crowding  is 
nothing  less  than  a  disgrace  to  the  community.  A  very  great  number  of  those  passengers  also  suf- 
fer a  constant  and  enormous  waste  of  time — as  compared  with  steam  travel — by  using  those 
facilities  for  long  haul  journeys. 

Steam  travel  too  limited. 

It  is,  therefore,  the  steam  railroads  of  Chicago — presumably  soon  to  be  electrified* — which 
alone  represent  the  speed  and  comfort  appropriate  for  the  long  journeys  so  characteristic  of 
the  local  travel  of  this  diffused  community.  Yet  only  l/20th  of  all  the  local  passengers  in 
Chicago  enjoy  that  standard  of  travel.  Despite  the  steady  and  rapid  increase  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city,  and  despite  the  fact  that  the  number  of  street  railway  passengers  has  doubled 
within  the  last  eleven  years,  the  steam  lines  ire  not  grcM\y  Increasing  ihc\r  local  passent/er  serv- 
ice, and  have  not  been  doing  so  for  years;  nor  do  their  managers  promise  any  important  future 
increase.  The  steam  railways  in  Greater  Berlin — which  include  a  great  east  and  west  four-track 
through  route — carry  eight  times  as  many  local  passengers  as  do  those  in  (ircatcr  Chicago. 

It  is  the  meagerness  of  local  high  speed  travel  by  rail  which  in  part  at  least  explains  the 
thousands  of  automobiles  parked  daily  in  the  downtown  streets.  The  space  demands  per  pas- 
senger, however,  of  the  automobile,  whether  moving  or  standing,  are  so  great  that  no  policy 
would  be  justified  which  would  compel  or  even  permit  it  to  become  a  general  means  of  travel 

•In  applying  the  word  "ilcam"  herein  lo  detisnate  railways  or  railway  routes  now  operated  by  (team,  it  is  assumed 
ihal  ihrtc  wili  be  converted  to  electrical  or  other  smokeless  operation  in  the  reasonably  near  future. 


THROUGH     ROUTES      FOR     CHICAGO'S      STEAM      RAILROADS 

to  and  from  the  ever-thickening  business  center.     If  it  became  such,  all  other  vehicles  would, 
from  sheer  lack  of  room  for  them,  have  to  be  put  ofif  the  surface  of  the  streets. 

Nor  will  subways  in  the  central  district — facilitating  increased  speed  for  a  short  distance 
only — meet  the  case.  Moreover,  a  subway  system  extending  over  the  whole  city,  even  if  it 
reached  the  speed  of  the  steam  lines,  would  be  enormously  costly  as  compared  to  the  expense  of 
developing  for  local  traffic,  steam  lines  already  existing,  and  would  be  open  to  the  serious  objec- 
tions which  attach  permanently  to  underground  travel.  The  steam  lines  should  be  more  exten- 
sively utilized  for  fast  travel. 

Through  steam  routes  required. 

To  secure  such  utilization  of  the  steam  lines,  however,  they  must  be  linked  up  into  through 
routes — continuous  from  one  side  of  the  city,  through  the  business  center  or  through  other  impor- 
tant centers  or  districts,  to  another  side.  Passengers  using  a  given  through  steam  route  could  then 
ride  without  change  from  any  station  on  one  side  of  the  city  to  any  station  on  another  side,  or 
— on  the  downtown  routes — to  any  one  of  several  stations  which  would  presumably  be  estab- 
lished in  the  business  district.  Few  would  ride  from  one  end  of  a  through  route  to  the  other,  but 
many  would  ride  from  one  side  of  the  city  or  of  the  business  district  to  another  side;  and  many 
would  be  convenienced  by  a  choice  between  several  different  stations  on  each  line  in  that  dis- 
trict, where  now  they  have  but  one. 

With  through  routes  thus  operated,  a  logical  system  of  surface  feeder  lines,  crossing  them 
at  their  various  central,  as  well  as  outlying  stations,  could  likewise  be  developed,  so  that  a  pas- 
senger starting  at  any  point  in  the  city  or  its  environs  could  be  certain  of  getting  conveniently 
to  or  near  his  ultimate  destination,  and  of  having  the  maximum  opportunity  to  use  the  highest 
speed  service. 

Thus,  through  steam  routes,  properly  fed  by  the  street  railways,  would  actually  give  all 
parts  of  Greater  Chicago  rapid  and  convenient  communication  with  each  other.  With  few  ex- 
ceptions our  characteristic  long  journeys  could  then  be  readily  made  in  part  or  in  whole  on  the 
swift  and  comfortable  steam  lines.  With  the  exception,  too,  of  such  downtown  sections  of  these 
lines  as  might  possibly  be  placed  in  short  subways,  this  high  speed  travel  would  be  entirely 
above  ground. 

Through  steam  routes  would  conserve  streets. 

The  stub-end  steam  terminal  involves  a  great  amount  of  excess  trackage  in  its  train  shed 
and  adjacent  yard  for  reverse  train  movements  and  for  cars  waiting  in  the  train  shed  longer  than 
is  necessary  for  loading  and  unloading.  Its  consequent  great  width  necessitates  correspondingly 
long  subways  or  viaducts  for  the  streets  crossed.  The  through-route  station  need  be  perhaps 
only  one-half  or  one-third  as  wide  at  street  crossings  as  the  stub-end  terminal.  By  such  stations, 
for  example,  the  street  subways  under  the  new  Northwestern  and  the  Rock  Island  terminals 
might  be  shortened  perhaps  one-half  or  more.  The  cost  of  these  terminals  would  also  be  corre- 
spondingly reduced. 

Through  steam  routes  would  let  the  business  center  grow. 

The  establishment  of  through  steam  routes,  each  with  several  stations  in  the  business  dis- 
trict, would  remove  a  powerful  pressure  against  the  natural  growth  of  that  district. 

The  great  majority  of  the  100,000  passengers  into,  and  then  out  of,  the  downtown  steam 
terminals  daily,  are  destined  for  points  widely  scattered  throughout  the  business  area.  Yet  no 
passenger,  save  on  the  Illinois  Central  suburban  service,  has  any  option  as  to  the  place  of  leav- 
ing or  taking  his  train.    Since  most  passengers,  however,  would  be  averse  to  spending  an  extra 

10 


EVANSTON  TO  HYDE  PARK. 
Via  terminal  routes— one  hour  and  ten  minutes. 


(D 


PleAs&Tit 

20  minutes  1, 

on  {\^e  Normvjestern  R.K. 


cars  Okt 
Sto.te  St. 


On  Steele  5t 
c£\r  to 
VAnr^urenSt 


Sminute-w^aAk    from 
StAleSt.lolllmoisCentrail 
i/AnBuren  Street)  StMion 


if*"*!^*      On  iKe-trAln 


am. 


Via  through  route— forty  minutes. 


A  Pie  as  a.  nt      40    minutes    on    -fke    -Oxroucsli  route* 


FLATB  I. 


II 


THROUGH  ROUTES  FOR   CHICAGO'S  STEAM   RAILROADS 

fare  for  street  car  or  to  spending  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  walking  between  station  and 
downtown  destination,  terminal  routing  is  always  tending  to  limit  the  business  district  to  an  area 
every  part  of  which  can  be  reached  from  every  steam  terminal,  by  walking,  within  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes. 

The  business  district  can  never  expand  naturally  until  freed,  not  alone  from  the  bar- 
ricading effect  of  the  surrounding  steam  railroad  property,  but  also  from  the  compression  of 
the  "Little  Chicago"  plan  of  steam  railroad  routing. 

Through  steam  routes  practicable  in  Chicago. 

The  through-route  principle  for  urban  transportation  has  been  rapidly  winning  its  way  in 
modern  cities  respecting  elevated  and  underground  and,  especially,  streetcar  lines.  Chicago  has 
adopted  it  for  elevated  and  street  railways.  Despite  peculiar  difficulties,  the  principle  has  also 
been  applied  in  a  number  of  cities,  and  with  conspicuous  success,  to  steam  lines.  It  is  being 
applied  to  steam  lines  in  several  notable  instances  at  the  present  time,  and  its  application  to 
steam  lines  has  been  officially  recommended  as  the  only  satisfactory  solution  in  other  important 
instances. 

Through  routing  on  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  is  recommended  by  Mr.  Bion  J.  Arnold  in 
his  recent  Chicago  Railway  Terminal  Report,  and  he  has  suggested  a  tentative  scheme  of  routes 
[see  frontispiece],  for  carrying  this  out.  This  scheme  would  employ  properties  already 
existing  and  would  involve  only  a  limited  additional  investment.  The  desirability  of  through 
routes  for  local  steam  service  in  Chicago  has  also  been  approved  by  Mr.  John  F.  Wallace,  ex- 
pert for  the  City  Council  Railway  Terminals  Committee. 

Electrified  as  they  presumably  will  be  in  due  course,  amplified  where  necessary  by  addi- 
tional tracks  alongside,  linked  up  into  through  routes,  and  properly  crossed  at  stations  by  surface 
feeder  lines,  the  steam  lines  should  constitute  a  trunk  system  of  popular,  safe,  comfortable, 
sun-lit  and  rapid  travel  throughout  Greater  Chicago. 

How  shall  this  be  accomplished? 

A  plan  of  procedure  to  this  end  should  be  worked  out,  and  every  railroad  company  now  or 
hereafter  seeking  privileges  from  the  City  Council  should  be  required,  as  a  condition  of  receiv- 
ing them,  to  join  in  that  plan. 

The  Boston  Metropolitan  Improvements  Commission  has  recommended  that  the  different 
railroad  companies  of  Boston  should  voluntarily  turn  over  all  their  properties,  on  an  appraised 
valuation,  to  a  Terminal  Company,  which  should  hold,  develop  and  administer  these  properties 
as  a  unit,  and  distribute  the  income  to  each  owner  pro  rata. 

Mr.  Arnold  has  suggested  for  Chicago  an  expert  board,  which  should  require  one  railroad 
company  after  another — as  they  should,  in  seeking  city  privileges,  come  under  its  authority — to 
develop  or  administer  its  property  in  accordance  with  a  harmonious  plan  to  be  devised  by  that 
board.  . 

The  State  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  Illinois  has  broad  powers  of  control,  adequate  per- 
haps for  securing  co-operative  routing  among  the  different  railroad  companies. 

Some  one  of  these  methods,  or  some  better  method,  should  be  adopted  to  secure  the  econ- 
omies of  joint  operation,  and  TO  OBTAIN  EFFICIENT  LOCAL  PASSENGER  SERVICE  ON  OUR  STEAM 
LINES  BY  THROUGH  ROUTES. 


1? 


CHAPTER  II 

STE.\M    LINES  BEST  FOR  FAST  LOCAL  TROWEL   IX  CHICAGO. 


ONE  DOT-IOOO  INHABITANTS 


•    :::::::  S:  VA  V. Vi«!«  —i 
:.:::i::;.;:;^:SsiUi-^iin 


:SS:a:i:i~ 


UCfUfi 


• 
I 
I 
• 

I 
I 

c. 


I9IO   POPULATION 
METROPOLITAN  CHICAGO 


PLATE  i      MAP  SHOWING  DIFFUSION  OF  CHU:a<;OS  POPLI.ATION.      SCAI^K  :     1  INCH  =  4  MILKS. 

Chicago's  noble  distances  demand  speedy  travel. 

I ACH  dot  on  the  map  means  1,000  inhabitants.    Many  dots  are  scattered  far. 

Chicago  proper  covers  191  square  miles;  the  real  community  covers  a  still 
greater  space.  It  is  unevenly  spread  through  an  area  15  miles  east  and  west  by  50 
north  and  south. 

While  the  chief  pulsations  of  passenger  traffic  arc  to  the  center  and  back,  in- 
numerable journeys  are  made  by  an  infinite  variety  of  combinations  between  points  here  and 
points  there  throughout  the  whole  area.  Many  of  all  these  different  journeys  are  long  hauls. 
They  demand  speed. 

13 


STREET  RAILWAY 


9M1LES 


"ELEVATED"  RAILWAY 


jT^^rrn. 


14   MILES 


STEAM  RAILWAY 


Z4  MILES 


PLATE  3.     DIAGRAM  SHOWING  AVERAGE  SPEEDS  PER  HOUR  OF  PASSENGER  TRAVEL  IN  CHICAGO. 


Steam  lines  for  speed. 

According  to  Mr.  Bion  J.  Arnold,  Chicago  street  cars  run  about  4i/<  miles  per  hour  in  the 
central  and  10^^  in  the  outer  zone;  the  "Elevated"  local  trains  run  12  and  the  express  16 
miles  an  hour;  the  steam  local  trains  run  18  and  the  express  28  miles  an  hour.  The  approxi- 
mate averages  are  shown  above. 


^iMlLES 


REACH  OF  ^  HOUR  JOUR- 
NEY AT  STREET  RAIL- 
WAY SPEED. 


REACH    OF    V2    HOUR   JOURNEY   AT 
"ELEVATED"  RAILWAY  SPEED. 


REACH    OF    Yi    HOUR  JOURNEY  AT 
STEAM  RAILWAY  SPEED. 

PLATE  3A.     DIAGRAM  SHOWING  REACH   OF  HALF-HOUR  JOURNEYS  BY  CHICAGO'S  DIFFERENT  RAILWAY  SPEEDS. 


Speed  is  room. 

If  you  ride  on  the  street  cars  you  must  live  near  your  w^ork. 

If  you  ride  on  the  "Elevated"  lines  you  can  range  farther. 

If  you  ride  on  the  steam  lines  you  may  choose  your  home  from  an  area  three  times  greater 
than  if  you  ride  on  the  "Elevated"  lines  and  seven  times  greater  than  if  you  ride  on  the  street 
cars. 


14 


STREET  RAILWAYS 
9>nLE5PERHOUR 

600  Million  Passm^ers-25', 


t 


ELEVATED  RAILVA^AYS 
I4MILES  PER  HOUR 

164  Million  Vassen^ers-Zd), 


STEAM  RAILWAYS 
i4MILES  PER  HOUR. 
4i^illion  Tassen^ers^  t^a 

(APPROXIMATE)  || 


PLATE  4.     LOCAL  RAILWAY  PASSENGERS  PER  YEAR  IN  CHICAGO. 


The  many  travel  slowly.    Few  travel  speedily. 

Of  Chicago's  805,500,000  local  railway  passengers,*  75%  ride  by  the  slowest  class  of  accom- 
modations, the  street  railways;  20%  ride  by  the  next  faster  class,  the  "Elevated"  railways;  and 
only  5%  ride  by  the  fastest  class,  the  steam  railways. 

The  steam  lines  of  Greater  Berlin,  with  a  far  less  mileage,  carry  8  times  as  many  local  pas- 
sengers as  do  those  of  Greater  Chicago.    Chicago's  steam  lines  are  not  intensively  used. 


*4I4,000.000  ttreet  railway  irantfcr  patkcngeri  excluded.    Arnold  Report  on  Railroad  Terminals,  1913. 

15 


Reach  of  K  Hour  Journey 
by  "Elevated"  Railway 


Reach  of  i4  Hour 
Journey  by  Steam 
Railway 


1910    POPULATION 

METROPOLITAN    CHICAGO 

One  clot=  1000  Inhabltanta 


PLATE  5. 


MAP  SHOWING  DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  AND  AREA  REACHED  FROM  GENERAL  POST  OFFICE  BY  HALF- 
HOUR  JOURNEYS,  AT  AVERAGE  SPEEDS,  ON  STREET,  "ELEVATED"  AND  STEAM  RAILWAYS. 


Speed  is  home  life. 

There  are  great  unoccupied  tracts  in  and  about  Chicago  where  people  might  have  ample 
homes  and  yards  if  they  could  reach  them  by  good  steam  line  service.  The  area  which  could 
be  reached  in  a  half  hour,  if  such  service  were  properly  developed,  is  shown  on  the  map  in  con- 
trast to  the  more  limited  areas  reached  by  street  and  "Elevated"  railway  journeys  of  like  dura- 
tion. 


16 


ri_\Ti:    0.      lROWDED    street    car    ON"    SOITH    HALSTED 
STREET,  EVENING  RVSH   HOIR.  IX  JILY,  1913. 

Steam  lines  for  comfort. 

Chicago  pays  $63,148,023  a  year  for  local 
travel  (Frederick  Rex.  Municipal  Reference 
Librarian) — mostly  by  street,  "Elevated"  and 
steam  railways — and  should  ride  comfortably. 

The  standard  of  comfort  on  the  street  railways 
is  disgraceful.  The  standard  of  comfort  on  the 
"Elevated"  railways  is  only  less  disgraceful. 

The  standard  of  comfort  on  the  steam  rail- 
ways is,  saving  minor  exceptions  and  details, 
reasonable  and  satisfactor>'. 


1  ^^^IHil^lr                                 ^^^^7 

PLATE  7.     DUST  RAISED  BY  FAST-RUNNING  STREET  CAR. 

Overspeeded  street  cars  betray 
underworked  steam  cars. 

The  street  cars  are  for  a  speed  safe  and  appro- 
priate in  the  public  streets.  They  should  not  be 
forced  to  do  the  work  proper  to  a  high  speed 
system. 

Besides  being  overloaded,  Chicago  street  cars 
are  so  overspeeded — for  street  cars — that  largely 
from  this  cause  they  killed  165  persons  in  the 
year  1913.  They  also  deluge  people  and  homes 
with  dust. 

The  street  cars  are  overworked  because  the 
steam  lines  are  under-worked. 


PLATk  S.     PARKED  AUTOMOBILES  IN  "LOOP"  DISTRICT  — 
PLVMOITH  COURT. 


Automobiles  reflect  inadequacy  of  steam  service. 

Why  arc  the  downtown  streets  so  obstructed  by  moving  or  standing  automobiles?  In  no 
small  degree  because  of  the  deficient  steam  service.  • 

The  meager  amount  of  fast  and  comfortable  local  passenger  service  on  the  steam  lines 
leaves  the  public  largely  with  no  alternative  but  automobiles  for  such  service. 

17 


CHAPTER  III 

FOR  EFFICIENCY  CHICAGO'S  STEAM  LINES  NEED  GENERAL 

REARRANGEMENT. 


HE  meager  number  of  Chicago's  local  steam  passengers  is  partly  chargeable  to  the 
general  disorder  of  its  great  steam  railroad  network. 

Disorder  means  high  cost  of  operation,  and  often  poor  accommodations.     It 
thus  discourages  efforts  to  extend  the  service  and  so  build  up  patronage. 
These  conditions,  as  a  first  requisite  for  their  cure,   demand  that  lines  be  rearranged. 


PLATE   9.       CHICAGO    STEAM    RAILROAD    MAP— 1850.     (CHARLES    K.    MOHLER.) 

SCALE  :      1  INCH  =  4  MILES. 

A  lost  chance. 

In  1850,  there  was  but  one  railroad  entering  Chicago,  and  there  were,  of  course,  no  inter- 
ferences between  lines.  « 

The  opportunity  to  lay  down  policies  for  a  far-sighted  scheme  of  orderly  railroad  develop- 
ment was  not  appreciated  and  was  not  taken  advantage  of. 

18 


PLATE  10.     CHICAGO  STEAM  RAILROAD  MAP— 1860.     (CHARLES  K.  MOHLER.) 
SCALE :     1  I.NCR  =  «  MILES. 

Disorder  began  early. 

By  I860,  railways  and  terminals  had  multiplied  in  Chicago.  Four  lines  from  the  east, 
jouth  and  southwest  ended  in  three  downtown  terminals. 

Obviously  the  line  nearest  the  lake  should  have  entered  the  terminal  nearest  the  lake,  the  line 
next  nearest  the  lake  the  terminal  ne.\t  nearest  the  lake,  etc.,  so  as  to  avoid  one  line  crossing  an- 
other. But  line  No.  1,  counting  from  the  lake,  entered  terminal  No.  2,  counting  from  the  lake; 
line  No.  2  entered  terminal  No.  3;  line  No.  3  entered  terminal  No.  1,  and  line  No.  4  entered 
terminal  No.  2. 

Every  case  was  a  misfit. 

19 


PLATE  11.     CHICAGO  STEAM  RAILROAD  MAP— 1910.     (CHARLES  K.  MOHLER.) 

SCALE :     1  INCH  —  4  MILES. 

A  colossal  tangle. 

The  criss-crossing  of  railway  lines — each  line  an  independent  enterprise  and  welcomed 
as  such  by  a  land-speculating  public — which  began  so  conspicuously  in  the  fifties,  has  continued 
and  grown,  until  we  have  our  present  network  of  steam  railroads,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
examples  of  chaos  ever  produced  by  human  activity. 


20 


•KMt-  t 


PLATE  12.     PLAN  FOR   RKARRANGEMKNT  OK  nilCAdO'S  STKAM    I. IMS    ON     EMSTINC    RIOHTSOFWAY    WITHOUT 

CROSSINGS.    (WILLIAM   UKLM.MONIi.) 

EHsorder  unnecessary. 

Intelligent  control  might  have  produced  a  far  different  result. 

This  ideal  plan,  by  Mr.  William  Drummond,  shows  how  the  steam  main  lines  (omitting  the 
belts)  might  now  be  reorganized,  on  present  rights-of-way,  without  a  single  crossing  of  one  line 
by  another.  What  a  decrease  in  construction,  maintenance  and  operating  cost,  what  an  increase 
in  efficiency,  what  an  improvement  of  the  town  it  would  have  meant  if  the  railroads  had  de- 
veloped in  this  way ! 


21 


KEY 


Crossing  at  Grade. 

Crossing  with  Grades  Separated. 


PLATE   13.      MAP  SHOWING   CROSSINGS   OF   STEAM    RAILROADS    BY    STEAM    RAILROADS    IN    CHICAGO 

DISTRICT,   1912.     (CHARLES   K.    MOHLER.) 

SCALE  :     1  INCH  =  4H  MILES. 


Disorder  means  hundreds  of  crossings. 

The  seriousness  of  the  existing  confusion  is  most  sharply  evidenced  in  the  great  number  of 
crossings  of  railroads  by  railroads. 

Each  dot  in  the  map  indicates  such  a  crossing;  a  red  dot  meaning  a  crossing  at  grade,  and  a 
green  dot  one  where  grades  are  separated.  According  to  Mr.  Mohler,  who  completed  the  map 
in  1912,  there  were  then  in  the  Chicago  district  239  such  crossings  at  grade  and  41  with  grades 
separated — 280  in  all.  A  few  grade  crossings  have  since  had  their  grades  separated.  No  ap- 
proximation to  such  a  railroad  mesh  exists  elsewhere  on  the  globe. 

22 


PUVTE    U.       STEAM    KAILKOAD    CROSSINGS    AT    GKADK,     LOOKING 

NORTH KAST    FROM    CORNER    OF   STEWART    AVENUE 

AND  TWENTY-FIRST  STREET.     1912. 

Rearrangement  of  lines  required. 

The  hundreds  of  crossings  of  railroads  by  railroads  mean  to  Chicago  an  enormous  com- 
mercial handicap  in  upkeep,  accidents  and  delays.  They  explain  in  part  why  it  takes,  on  the 
average,  three  full  days  merely  to  get  a  loaded  freight  car  through  the  Chicago  district,  and  ten 
davs  if  the  car  is  to  be  unloaded  and  then  loaded  again  in  the  district.  They  explain  many  of 
the  long  detours,  waits  and  slow-downs  which  impair  steam  passenger  service  in  Chicago. 


PLATE  15.       STEAM  RAILROAD  CROSSINGS  WITH  GRADES  SEPARATED. 

ILLINOIS  CE.VTRAL  LINE  CRO.SSING  OVER   ATCHISON,  TOPEKA  & 

SANTA  FE  LINE  AT  SI.XTEENTH  STREET  AND  WENT- 

WORTH  AVENl'E.  LOOKING  EAST.     lyU. 

Disorder  means  waste. 

Grade  separation  is  enormously  costly,  and  is  only  a  partial  remedy. 

Grade  separation  does  not  cure  a  mistaken  location  or  connection  of  lines,  but  leaves  them 
still  in  their  round-about  courses.  It  disarranges  streets,  mars  the  face  of  the  city  and  introduces 
trying  railroad  grades. 

Some  lines  even  cross  each  other  at  one  point  and  then  cross  back  again  at  another  point. 
An  interchange  of  parts  of  such  lines,  obviating  the  crossings  themselves,  would  be  the  only  thor- 
ough remedy. 

General  rearrangement  of  lines,  rather  than  grade  separation  here  and  there,  is  the  treat- 
ment needed. 

23 


LECCND 

COKMOM  II roHT- 0»-WAy 

TO  U.  uJto   tn  NOW'  ov«o  ftY 


t.t.m.*  C.«.«. 


PLATE   16.       MAP  OF   CHICAGO   SHOWING   PROPOSED   CONCENTRATION   OF  STEAM   LINES   UPON   THREE   APPROACHES 

TO    BUSINESS    DISTRICT.     (JARVIS    HUNT.     1913.) 

SCALE  :      1  INCH  =  4.7  MILES 

Rearrangement  repeatedly  urged. 

The  Railway  Terminal  Commission  of  1892  recommended  that  the  steam  lines  entering  the 
city  be  concentrated  upon  three  main  elevated  approaches,  one  from  the  south,  one  from  the 
west,  and  one  from  the  north.  Mr.  Jarvis  Hunt  has  recently  proposed  a  definite  scheme,  shown 
above,  for  rearranging  on  that  principle  the  railroad  approaches  to  the  business  district.  This 
would  almost  wholly  eliminate  crossings  of  railroads  by  railroads. 


24 


PUBLIC  MUST  PAY  FOR  ELECTRIFICATION 

"If  it  costs  $100,000,000  or  $400,000,000  to  electrify  the 
terminals  in  chicago,  the  question  is,  will  the  com- 
MERCE OF  Chicago  bear  the  burden?    .    .    .    Commerce 

MUST  PAY;  YOU  BUSINESS  PEOPLE  MUST  PAY! 

"I  FEEL  IT  IS  PREMATURE  TO  BE  SERIOUSLY  CONSIDERING  THE 
ELECTRIFICATION  OF  THE  TERMINALS  OF  THE  RAILROADS  IN  CHI- 
CAGO. It  IS  PREMATURE  TO  PUT  SUCH  A  BURDEN  UPON  COM- 
MERCE." 

{Man-in  Hughitt,  then  President  Chicago  and  Northwestern 
Railroad,  at  private  meeting  of  representatives  of  Chicago 
Association  of  Commerce  and  railroad  presidents,  Septem- 
ber, 1910 — News  item.) 


Rearrangement  would  facilitate  electrification. 

Electrical,  or  some  other  form  of  smokeless  operation  of  steam  lines  in  Chicago,  will  pre- 
sumably be  required  by  the  city  in  the  near  future. 

There  are  2,800  miles  of  steam  railway  tracks  of  different  sorts  within  the  city  limits.  The 
cost  of  electrification  would  be  materially  lessened  if  that  enormous  mileage  were  reduced,  as 
it  could  be,  by  a  proper  rearrangement  and  concentration  of  tracks  and  lines.  Kiconomy  as  well 
as  efficiency  demands  that  rearrangement  should  precede  or  accompany  electrification. 

The  public,  as  Mr.  Hughitt  truly  says  above,  must  ultimately  foot  the  bill.  We  can  far  bet- 
ter afford  to  electrify  if  we  first,  or  at  the  same  time,  concentrate  and  simplify. 


25 


s       3 


Mftdlson  St 


Snh  St 


Tl<t  St. 


KUtI  St. 


PLATE  17.       MAP  SHOWING  SEVEN  MAIN  RAILWAY  ENTRANCES 
INTO  CHICAGO.     (FREDERIC   A.   DELANO.) 

Rearrangement  would  release  mileage  for  a  local  passenger  system. 

In  a  proper  rearrangement  of  Chicago's  steam  lines,  it  is  probable  that,  without  prejudice 
to  long-distance  traffic,  and  at  reasonable  cost,  there  could  be  set  aside  numerous  lines,  which,  if 
wisely  supplemented  here  and  there  with  connections  and  branches,  would  suffice  for  a  wide- 
spread— eventually  electrified — system  for  local  high-speed  passenger  service. 

There  are  seven  chief  railroad  entrances  into  Chicago,  having  from  four  to  ten  tracks  each, 
or  a  total  of  54  tracks.  If  half  of  these  tracks  be  considered  as  devoted  to  freight  business,  the 
other  half  would  far  exceed  the  number  needed  for  the  efficient  operation  of  the  1,339  passen- 
ger trains  which  enter  or  leave  the  six  Chicago  terminals  daily.  The  145  passenger  trains  oper- 
ated on  all  tracks  during  the  rush  hour,  if  divided  among  27  tracks,  would  average  under  six 
trains  per  track  per  hour,  and  the  greatest  frequency,  too,  of  rush-hour  passenger  trains  on  any 
track  at  present  is  only  16  per  hour,  whereas,  under  proper  conditions,  from  25  to  30  trains  per 
track  per  hour  could  be  safely  operated. 

There  is  therefore  a  considerable  margin  of  unused  steam  track  capacity  which  might  pre- 
sumably be  devoted  to  a  system  for  rapid  local  passenger  service.  Such  service  would  also  be  in 
the  air  and  sunlight,  because  most  of  the  steam  lines  are  already  elevated  or  about  to  be  elevated 
above  the  streets. 

An  unhampered  rearrangement  of  the  general  steam  network  of  the  city,  with  special  ref- 
erence to  local  passenger  service,  is  the  needed  treatment  for  that  network. 


26 


CHAPTER  IV 

THROUGH-ROUTE  PRINCIPLE  ESTABLISHED  IN  CHICAGO— EXCEPT  ON  STEAM  LINES. 

XY  rearrangement,  limited  or  general  in  extent,  of  the  steam  passenger  lines  of  Chi- 
cago, should  be  designed  primarily  to  provide  for  the  best  routing  of  trains.  This 
is  required  both  for  passenger  efficiency  and  for  normal  city  development. 

Two  routing  plans,  very  different  in  their  results,  may  be  employed;  one,  ter- 
minal routing — the  other,  through  routing.  On  a  typical  terminal  route,  cars 
would  run,  say,  from  the  outskirts  of  the  city  to  the  business  district,  and  return.  On  a  typical 
through  route  they  would  continue  through  the  business  center  to  another  side  of  the  city,  and 
return.  The  one  method  tends  toward  the  abnormal  concentration,  and  the  other  toward  the 
normal  distribution  of  business. 

By  a  prolonged  struggle,  Chicago  has  been  e.xtending  the  through-route  principle  over  its 
various  agencies  of  communication,  e.xcepting  the  steam  lines 


1.1  ^  1/a 


HLATK      H.       DIAr.oXAI.     K()AI>S-M  AS  Y     OF     THEM 
FOKMKRI.V   TOI.I.    ROAIJS— AI'l'KOArm.SG 

rmCAGO'S    BL'SI.VICSS   DISTRICT. 
SCALE:      I  I.XC-BS  1.1  MtU»  (APt-llnXIMATEI. 


PLATF.   19.       PHOPO.SEI)  NEW  OR  WIDK.N  EI)  STREETS 
— COMMERCIAI.  CLUB  "PLA-N  OF  (UK  ACQ,"   1909. 

SCALE:      I  I.NCH  i;  J.!  MII.KR 


The  through-route  principle  established  in  Chicago  for  streets. 

With  occasional  interruptions  here  and  there,  the  street  system  of  Chicago  is  a  through- 
route  system,  fc^vcn  the  old  diagonal  turnpike  roads,  which,  on  the  map,  end  abruptly,  really 
lead  into  streets  affording  continuous  passage  through  the  heart  of  town.  Yet  the  Commercial 
Club  "Plan"  for  the  improvement  of  Chicago  recommended  the  gradual  creation  or  widen- 
ing, at  enormous  cost,  of  nearly  l.'JO  miles  of  streets,  in  order  to  secure  for  the  city  a  more 
efficient  through-route  street  system. 

The  city  has  also  recognized  the  importance  of  such  a  street  system  by  adopting  the  policy 
of  laying  the  best  pavements  on  through  traffic  streets. 

27* 


PLATE  20.       CHICAGO'S   DIVISIONAL  STREET  CAR  SYSTEMS— 1G96. 
SCALE :      1  INCH  =  2  MILES.    (APPROXIMATE) 

Through  routes  for  street  cars  long  sought  in  Chicago, 

The  agitation  for  street  car  through  routes  in  Chicago  began  in  1898  with  the  report  of  a 
special  street  railway  committee  of  the  City  Council. 

Up  to  1907  the  street  railways  were  chiefly  operated  in  three  separate  systems,  each  term- 
inating in  the  business  district.    There  was  not  a  through  rnnte  in  the  city. 

•    28 


PLATE  21.     MAP  SHOWING  THE  THROUGH  ROUTES  REQUIRED  BY  STREET 
RAILWAY  ORDINANCES  OK  1907.     (BOARD  OK  SUPERVISING 
ENGINEERS— CHICAGO  TRACTION.      1912.) 

SCALE:     1  INCUa3  MILES.    (APPROXIMATE) 


The  through-route  principle  established  in  Chicago  for  street  railways. 

The  traction  ordinances  of  1907  provided  for  nineteen  through  routes,  and  further  legis- 
lation for  street  car  through  routing  was  adopted  in  city  ordinances  of  July  15,  1912,  and 
November  13,  1913. 

Although  a  sufHcicntly  extensive  through-route  system  for  street  cars  has  not  yet  been  put 
into  effect,  it  is  now  the  settled  policy  of  the  city  to  promote  such  routes  generally. 


29 


PLATE    22.       CAR    BLOCKADE    ON    CLARK    STREET,    DUE   TO    SWITCH-BACK   OPERATION 
AT  WASHINGTON  STREET.     LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  MONROE  STREET. 


Consequences  of  terminal  routing. 

It  is  the  lack  of  through-routing  which  explains  the  "backing  up"  —  until  recently  —  of 
Clark  street  cars  south  of  Washington  street.  The  switch-back  at  Washington  street  which 
caused  this  blockade  has  now  been  displaced  by  a  loop — the  alternative  and  scarcely  less  objec- 
tionable form  of  terminal  routing. 


30 


PLATE  2J.      PIJIN  SHOWING  FORMER  TERMINAL  ROUTING  ON  CHICAGO'S  "ELEVATED"  LINES,  1897. 

SCALE :     I  INCH  =  1«  MILKS. 

Through  "Elevated"  routes  long  sought  in  Chicago. 

For  a  dozen  years  the  agitation  has  been  going  on  for  through-routing  trains  on  the  "Ele- 
vated" railways.  Up  to  1897  the  "Elevated"  lines  terminated  at  various  downtown  points — 
where  the  trains  were  reversed  by  the  ordinary  switch-back  method. 


31 


PLATE  24.       PLAN   SHOWING  "LOOP   BACK"   ROUTING   ON 

SCALE :      1  INCH  =  2.4  MILES. 


'ELEVATED"   LINES,    1913. 


Loop  terminal  adopted  for  "Elevated"  lines. 

In  1897,  Mr.  Yerkes  built  the  "Elevated"  loop,  by  which  trains  on  all  the  different  lines 
thereafter  reversed  their  direction  by  running  around  the  loop,  instead  of  by  switching  back. 
This  made  transfer  between  lines  on  the  "loop"  easy;  but  with  increased  traffic,  "loop"  operation 
soon  choked  the  tracks  with  interfering  trains. 


32 


PIRATE    IS.     TRAIN    BLOCKADE    ON    "ELEVATED"    LOOP:    FIFTH    AVENUE, 
LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  VAN  BUREN  STREET.   1912. 


Consequences  of  "loop"  terminal  operation. 

It  ii  the  lack  of  through-routing,  or  of  a  well-devised  plan  of  through-routing,  which  ex- 
plains train  blockades  on  the  "Elevated"  lines. 


.13 


PLATE  26.       PLAN  SHOWING  (IN  RED)  THROUGH-ROUTING  ON   THE   "ELEVATED"  LINES.    1914. 

SCALE  :     1  INCH  =  2.4  MILES. 

The  through-route  principle  established  in  Chicago  for  "Elevated"  railways. 

Last  November,  a  through-routing  ordinance  went  into  effect  for  the  "Elevated"  lines, 
and,  under  it,  a  scheme  of  partial  through-routing — not  yet  satisfactorily  worked  out — is  accord- 
ingly in  operation.  It  is  now  the  city's  policy  to  have  through-routing  maintained  on  the  "Ele- 
vated" lines. 


34 


CHAPTER  V. 


THROUGH  ROUTES  THE  PARAMOUNT  NEED  FOR  THE  STEAM  LINES  OF  CHICAGO. 

HE  through-route  principle,  already  applied  to  the  streets,  and  already  adopted  for 
and  in  part  applied  to  the  street  railways  and  the  "Elevated"  railways,  is  most  con- 
spicuously of  all  needed  for  the  passenger  steam  railways. 

The  terminals  of  these  railways  are  not  even  situated  so  that  direct  or  even  prac- 
ticable transfers  can  take  place  between  them  for  local  travel.     They  are  instead 

planted  at  arbitrary  points  distant  from  an  eighth  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  an  eighth  from  each 

other.    These  terminals  also  illustrate  the  same  grave  objections  which  attach  to  such  terminals 

generally:    they   are    inefficient 

for    local    transportation;    they 

waste   space,    interfere   with 

streets,   cost  e.xtravagant   sums, 

congest  business,  and  distort  city 

growth. 

Through  routes  essential 
for  efficiency  of  steam 

lines. 

Not  a  through  steam  route 

exists  in  Chicago.  The  plan  at 
the  right  shows  the  six  arbitrar- 
ily located  and  disconnected 
downtown  terminals  at  which 
Chicago's  steam  passenger  lines 
for  local  as  well  as  long-distance 
scr\'icc  now  end.* 

This  plan  makes  it  plain 
why  the  passenger  business  of 
these  lines,  although  they  repre- 
sent the  highest  standard  of 
speed  in  Chicago,  and  although 
Chicago  distances  demand  that 
speed,  is  so  conspicuously  small. 
It  is  chiefly  because  they  are 
operated  on  the  terminal  instead 
of  the  through-route  plan.  No 
passenger  can  ride  through  and 
beyond  the  central  district,  or — 
»avc  on  the  Illinois  Central- 
choose  bet\vecn  more  points  of 
arrival  than  one  in  that  district. 
This  lack  of  continuity  is  fatal 
to  any  large  development  of 
local  passenger  traffic  on  the 
steam  lines. 

The  necessity  of  replacing  terminals  and  terminal  routes  on  these  lines  by  through  stations 
and  through  routes  is  further  enforced  by  many  objections  inherent  in  steam  line  terminals 
irrespective  of  their  location  with  reference  to  each  other. 

Tbc  ItUnaii Ccttnl  tcrn^nal  for  local  lervicc  U  at  Randolph  itrcct. 

35 


PLATE  27. 


MAP  SHOWING    LOCATION    OF   CHICAGO'S   STEAM    PASSENGER 
TERMINALS,    1914. 


'■f'^'KJi  Ilill»ii 


PLATE    28.       TYPICAL    COUNTRY    TOWN    HITCHING    RAIL. 


The  terminal  a  village  relic. 

The  terminal  idea  fits  the  village,  but  not  the  great  city.  The  farmers  driving  into  town 
from  various  directions  are  fully  accommodated  by  the  one  hitching  rail — or  terminal.  From 
there  they  can  in  two  or  three  minutes  reach,  by  walking,  any  other  desired  point  in  the  little 
village. 


36 


i 


PLATE  ».     VIEW  IN  BUSINESS  DISTRICT  OF  CHICAGO    LOOKING    NORTHWEST    FROM    TRANSPORTATION 
BUILDING.     ARROW  INDICATES  LA  SALLE  STREET  TERMINAL,  1914. 
(PHOTOGRAPH   BY  J.  \V.  TAYLOR.) 


Terminal  idea  outgrown  by  Chicago. 

A  single  downtown  "hitching  rail,"  or  terminal,  wherever  located  and  however  glorified 
architecturally,  is  not  sufficient  accommodation  for  any  steam  line's  passengers  into  and  out  of 
Chicago's  business  area. 

From  the  La  Salle  street  terminal,  shown  in  the  foreground  above,  a  passenger  may,  on 
foot,  reach  any  point  in  the  congested  loop  district  in  10  or  IS  minutes.  Chicago's  real  busi- 
ness district,  however,  is,  or  is  fast  coming  to  be,  an  area  stretching  a  mile  and  a  half  east  and 
west  by  three  miles  north  and  south.  Steam  line  passengers  should,  if  practicable,  have,  with- 
out changing  cars,  a  choice  of  several  stations  located  in  different  parts  of  that  area.  A  through 
route  would  afford  such  choice. 


37 


PLATE      30.        TRATX       SHED       OF       (IRANI)       cl-..\ikAl. 
TERMINAL,    CHICAGO. 

Idle  tracks  and  standing  trains  are  characteristic  of 
the  terminal  train  shed. 


PLATE  32.       BUSSES   AXl)    CAHS    AT    IH.AKIIORN    STREET 
TERMI.VAL,  ClIK  ACO. 

The  characteristic  line  of  waiting  busses  which 
crowd  the  street  in  front  of  the  Dearborn  street  termi- 
nal represent  inefficient  use  of  street  space. 


I'J.AI  i;  ,i-4.     (  Ali  STA.\1>  SPACE  AT  RAILROAD  TER.M  l.V  AL, 
BRUSSELS. 

Great  numbers  of  cabs  occupy  room  near  railroad 
terminals  for  indefinite  lengths  of  time,  waiting  for 
"fares."  If  trains  went  on  through  the  city,  stopping 
at  several  stations,  more  passengers  could  reach  their 
destinations  without  cabs. 


PLATE    31. 


TYPICAL    WATTING    ROOM     IN 
TERMINAL. 


RAILROAD 


Their  great  "waiting"  rooms  are  an  unconscious 
satire  upon  railroad  terminals — advertising,  not  their 
success,  but  their  failure. 


ri.\ii     ■;     mi.i-.  >  ak'-  at  stkekf  i;aiia\.\v  tkr.mi.v.al 

ul'I'OMII'.   l)i:Al<li()l<.\    STREET  TKK.MI.NAL,   CHIC'VliO. 

One  terminal  implies  another  of  some  sort,  meeting 
or  facing  it,  each  with  waiting  vehicles.  A  typical  case 
is  shown  above  where  a  street  car  terminal  fronts  the 
Dearborn  street  railroad  terminal.  Waiting  street  cars 
as  well  as  steam  cars  mean  waste  of  space. 


sail 


PLATE    35.      SUGGESTIONS    FOR    HANDLING    BAGGAGE 
AND  EXPRESS  AT  STATIONS.      (AUGUST  .SCHERL.) 

Terminals,  ending  the  journey,  encourage  leisurely 
operating  methods.  Through-routing,  representing  con- 
tinued train  movement,  encourages  the  shortening  of 
station  stops  by  every  practicable  device.  To  shorten 
those  stops  is  to  reduce  the  trackage  and  so  the  size  of 
stations. 


38 


rLATC  M.   ONE  OF  THE  TWO  SUB-STORY  TRAIN  YARDS  OF  THE  GRAND  CENTRAL  TERMINAL,  NEW  YORK. 

Train  operation  in  a  terminal  requires  probably  2  or  3  times  the  tracks  and  switching 
room  required  by  a  through-route  station.  The  new  Grand  Central  terminal  in  New  York  has 
two  train  yards,  occupying  two  sub-stories  one-third  of  a  mile  long  and  comprising  together 
sixty-seven  tracks.  39 


PLATE  37.       TRAIN  SHED  AND  YARD  OF  CHICAGO  &  NORTHWESTERN   PASSENGER  TERMINAL.   CHICAGO.     1914. 

Terminals  interfere  with  streets. 

The  new  Chicago  &  Northwestern  terminal  was  recently  characterized  by  an  alderman 
in  the  City  Council,  and  later  by  the  Mayor  in  the  Railway  Terminals  Committee,  as 
"a  monstrosity,"  because  of  its  impairment  of  streets  crossing  under  its  wide  train  shed  and  yard. 
Those  streets  pass  through  subways  300  feet  long. 

The  width  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  station  and  train  shed  could  probably  be 
reduced  at  least  one-half  by  through-routing. 


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m 

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. 

mA 

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^^^K 

■ 

PLATE    38.       RANDOLPH     STREET,     CROSSING    UNDER    TRAIN     YARD     OF     CHICAGO     & 
NORTHWESTERN  RAILROAD  TERMINAL.     LOOKING   EAST.     1913. 


Chicago's  steam  passenger  terminals  close  several  streets  entirely — Franklin  from  the  north, 
Monroe  from  the  west,  Dearborn  from  the  south.  They  turn  other  streets,  as  illustrated  above, 
into  low,  dark  tunnels. 

40 


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5  "-'-"il^ 


nl^ti^;i:r"!jV 


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1 

X 

_  - 

1 

i 


i== 


H^^: 


PLATE   39.     MAP  SHOWING    GROUND   AREA   OF   GRAND 
CENTRAL  TERMINAL,  NEW  YORK.  SCALE:   H  INCH -I.OOO  FEET. 

The  new  Grand  Central  terminal  in  New  York  ex- 
tends one-tenth  of  the  way  across  Manhattan  Island. 
The  area  of  the  old  terminal  was  23  acres ;  that  of  the 
new  is  47  acres.  Despite  its  two  sub-stories  it  is  so 
enormous  that  it  is  planted  squarely  across  4th  ave- 
nue, one  of  the  city's  few  north  and  south  arteries.  All 
traffic  on  that  avenue  must  make  a  detour  and  four 
turns  to  get  around  the  head  house. 

The  new  Pennsylvania  passenger  terminal  in  Chi- 
cago is  proposed  to  have  an  area  of  about  30  acres,  as 
against  about  6  acres  for  the  old  terminal. 


PLATE  40. 


SOUTH   UNION   TERMINAI^-TRAIN   SHED   AND 
YARD.     BOSTON. 


Because  of  the  enormous  space  demanded  by  ter- 
minals, they  are  "pushed  back"  to  inconvenient  loca- 
tions to  get  sufficient  room.  The  South  Union  termi- 
nal, Boston,  and  its  train  yard  occupy  so  much  room 
that  they  had  to  be  remotely  placed  on  the  water  front 
where  the  streets  did  not  need  to  be  continuous. 


fLATE   41. 


THKOUUH-KOUTE    RAILROAD    STATION    AT 
DRESDEN. 


PLATE    42. 


THROUGH-ROUTE    STEAM    LINE    CROSSING 
IMPORTANT  STREET  IN  VIENNA. 


Through-route  station  minimizes  obstruction  to  streets. 

The  through-route  station  represents  intensively  used  tracks,  comparatively  few  in  number 
and  directly  co-ordinated  with  cross  lines.  It  may  be  introduced  therefore  in  central  locations 
where  terminals  of  equal  capacity  would  be  impracticable,  and,  if  properly  constructed,  may 
be  so  narrow  that  it  can  even  be  elevated  over  the  streets  without  being  particularly  objection- 
able. 

The  through-route  station  at  Dresden — with  its  few  intensively  used  tracks  necessitating 
only  narrow  viaducts  over  streets,  and  crossed  by  a  street  car  route — is  in  the  midst  of  high 
class  development  on  both  sides. 


41 


•2a»o  cr 


PLATE  43.       MAP  SHOWING  AREA  OF  STEAM  RAILROAD  OWNERSHIP 

AROUND    BUSINESS    DISTRICT     OF     CHICAGO,     1913. 

(ARNOLD    RAILROAD   TERMINAL   REPORT.) 

(Area  in  red   south  of  Van  Buren  street  has  been  abandoned  as  sight  for  freight  terminal,  1914). 


Terminals  distort  city's  growth. 

Owing  to  their  great  size,  passenger  terminals,  even  at  their  best,  and  especially  when 
multiplied  in  a  limited  area,  tend  not  only  to  interrupt  the  flow  of  business  here  and  there, 
but  to  derange  the  plan  and  development  of  that  whole  area.  Chicago's  numerous  passenger 
terminals  are  an  important  element  of  the  "Chinese  Wall"  of  disordered  railroad  terminal 
property  which  isolates  the  kernel  from  the  rest  of  the  natural  business  district,  and  distorts  the 
natural  development  of  that  district. 


42 


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i^  sa  B  a  a  s  B  g  i*wirV 


Hbp  Shott'iii^  guKhfif J  5htirf Plan  d' 
fcnhjIDistrid  of  ehWa^. 


PLATE 
STRK 


F  44      MAP  OF  (  KNTRAI.  UISTKU  T  Oh   (UK  ACO  SHOWINC.  IN   RED. 
EETSCLOSKn.  AXI>.  IN  YELLOW.  STREETS  NORMALLY   REQUIRED 
BLT    NEVER    LAID   OUT.      (CHARLES    K.    .MOIILER.    19IJ.) 


The  terminal  wall  obliterates  street  plan. 

Owing  to  railroad  occupation— and  to  the  crooked  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  river— 
ihc  street  plan  of  central  Chicago  has  been  completely  cut  to  pieces.  The  red  lines  indicate 
streets  closed  by  railroad  occupation.  The  yellow  lines  indicate  streets  needed  but  never 
opened,  chiefly  because  of  railroad  occj|.ation. 


43 


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PLATE  45..     MAP  SHOWING  THROUGH  STREETS  IN  THE  CENTRAL 
DISTRICT  OF  CHICAGO,   1912.      (CHARLES   K.   MOHLER.) 

* 

Terminal  wall  reduces  number  of  through  streets. 

The  business  district,  as  shown  above,  extends  one  and  one-fifth  miles  east  and  west,  by 
three  miles  north  and  south. 

This  district  should  normally  have,  from  Halsted  street  to  Michigan  boulevard,  fourteen 
north  and  south  through  streets.  It  should  have,  from  22nd  street  to  Chicago  avenue,  thirty- 
six  east  and  west  through  streets.  It  has  five — or  the  equivalent  of  five  —  north  and  south 
through  streets,  and  has  fourteen  east  and  west  through  streets. 

The  district  has  a  total  of  nineteen  through  streets  where  it  should  have  fifty.  It  lacks 
thirty-one — chiefly  because  of  the  terminal  wall. 

44 


PLATE   46.       LAND    AT   SOUTHWEST    CORNER    OF    CANAL   AND   POLK   STREETS,   1913. 

The  terminal  wall  depreciates  the  next  zone. 

Through  routes  would  "put  the  west  side  on  the  map." 

For  at  least  a  decade  the  above  west  side  lot  has  been  in  the  condition  shown.  It  is 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  General  Post  Office,  but  it  is  isolated  by  the  intervening  "terminal 
area." 

If  the  district  between  the  river  and  Halsted  street  could  be  put  in  convenient  and  quick 
communication  with  other  parts  of  the  city  by  fast  steam  through  routes — with  stops,  say,  at 
two  or  three  places  along  Canal  street — that  district  would  promptly  show  new  business  life.  It 
is  accessibility  that  makes  land  values. 


PLATE    4?.      WHERE    RAILROAD    AND    ntSINE.SS    PROPERTY    MEET.      LOOKING    NORTH 

FROM  TWELFTH   STREET,  EAST  OF  FIFTH   AVENUE.     (ARNOLD 

RAILROAD   TERMINAL    REPORT,  l«tJ.) 


The  terminal  wall  barricades  expansion. 

The  band  of  railroad  terminal  property  {page  42)  stops  the  lateral  growth  of  Chicago's 
business  center  and  forces  buildings  there  high  into  the  air. 

45 


PLATE   48.       SECTION   OF   GRAND   CENTRAL  TERMINAL,   NEW  YORK. 

Terminals  impede  passengers. 

The  new  mammoth  railroad  terminals  of  today  are  in  themselves  so  complex  and  tremen- 
dous in  size  that  they  become  a  sort  of  barrier  between  the  passenger  and  his  train. 


"In  such  a  station  as  the  South  Station  in  Boston,  it  is  necessary  for  a  person  purchasing  a 
ticket  and  checking  baggage  to  walk  approximately  1,100  feet  from  the  main  entrance  before 
entering  an  express  train,  and  in  the  Grand  Central  Station  in  New  York  about  the  same 
distance;  in  the  new  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Station,  Chicago,  about  940  feet  plus  a  20-foot 
stair  climb;  in  the  Union  Station  at  Washington  about  1,200  feet,  and  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Station  at  New  York  from  480  to  950  feet,  according  to  the  entrance  used."  {W.  Symmes 
Richardson,  Scribner's  Magazine,  October,  igi2.) 


46 


PLATE  49.       TERMINAL  OF  CHICAGO  A  NORTHWESTERN   RAILROAD,  CHICAGO. 

Terminals  too  costly  for  use. 

The  new  steam  terminals  which  have  been  recently  erected  in  various  places,  and  whose 
cost  is  given  in  terms  of  "scores"  or  "hundreds"  of  millions,  are  largely  a  form  of  competitive 
advertising — for  which  the  public  must  pay — and  are  really  too  expensive  to  be  afforded  by  their 
users. 

"The  fixed  charges,  taxes  and  operating  expenses  of  one  of  the  largest  terminals  for  each  train  run  in  or  out  of  it  are 
nine  dollars  and  nine  cents;  for  another  eleven  dollars  and  fifty-five  cents,  for  still  another  fourteen  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents, 
and  for  a  fourth  eighteen  dollars  and  forty-five  cents."   (Samuel  O.  Dunn,  in  Scribner's  Magazine,  October,  1912.) 

The  addition  of  these  charges  for  suburban  trains  would  make  the  prices  of  tickets  pro- 
hibitive to  many  commuters. 


Pt.M%Te   M.      RU8H  OP   PASBENaERB   AT   MANHATTAN    END   OP    BROOKLYN    BRIDQE. 

A  horrible  example. 

The  most  notorious  example  in  the  world  of  a  terminal  is  the  Manhattan  end  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Bridge.  To  that  single  point  passengers  for  all  the  important  street  car  and  "Elevated"  lines 
of  Br(x)klyn  must  go  to  take  their  cars.    The  jam  there  is  a  regular  daily  event. 

If  those  cars  also  traversed  various  parts  of  Manhattan  Island,  passengers  would  get 
aboard  at  many  points  instead  of  one,  to  their  great  convenience  and  to  the  relief  of  sidewalks 
and  street  crossings  bet\%-een  those  points  and  the  bridge. 

47 


THROUGH     ROUTES     FOR     CHICAGO'S      STEAM      RAILROADS 


Through  routes  increase  number  and  length  of  possible  rides. 

The  question  was  recently  asked  in  public — as  if  it  disposed  of  the  entire  through-route  prop- 
osition— "Why  should  we  have  a  through  route  from  Evanston  to  Gary?  How  many  would 
want  to  take  that  ride?" 

It  is  true  that  comparatively  few  passengers  would  take  the  ride  from  end  to  end  of  such 
a  north-south  through  route.  Many,  however,  would  wish  to  make  trips,  in  all  sorts  of  combi- 
nations, between  the  various  north  side  stations  and  the  various  south  side  stations — trips  which 
could  not  be  taken  under  terminal  routing — and  the  total  of  such  interchange  would  constitute, 
not  a  negligible,  but  a  very  large  volume  of  traffic. 

The  increase  secured  in  the  number  and  length  of  possible  rides  by  connecting  two  termi- 
nal routes  into  one  through  route,  is  illustrated  by  the  following  diagrams: 

PLATE  51. 


DIAGRAM  I.      TERMINAL    ROUTING  : 
30    DIFFERENT     POSSIBLE    RIDES. 

Diagram  I  represents  two  railway  routes  extending  from  opposite 
sides,  A  and  C,  of  a  given  city,  to  downtown  terminals  meeting  at  B. 
Diagram  II  represents  these  two  terminal  routes  as  connected  at  B 
into  a  through  route  AC.  Black  dots  on  these  routes  indicate  stations, 
and  trains  are  presumed  to  run  from  end  to  end  of  each  route, 
stopping   at    all    stations. 

The  semi-circles  above  each  route,  connecting  its  stations  in 
various  combinations,  serve  to  count  the  number  of  different  possible 
trips  which  could  be  taken  from  one  station  to  another,  without 
change,  on  that  route.  The  terminal  route  AB  (Diagram  I)  would 
thus,  as  appears  from  a  count  of  its  semi-circles,  alitord  LS  different 
possible  trips  without  change,  and  the  terminal  route  BC,  the  same 
number,    or    a    total    of    30    on    the    two    terminal    routes. 

If,  however,  these  two  terminal  routes  were  connected  at  B  into 
one  through  route  AC  (Diagram  II),  not  only  could  all  trips  possible 
on  the  two  terminal  routes  be  then  taken,  but  nearly  as  many  more 
could  also  be  taken  without  change,  because  a  passenger  at  any 
station  from  A  to  B  could  then  ride  direct  to  any  station  from  B  to  C 
— which  he  could  not  do  under  terminal  routing.  The  one  through 
route  would  thus  afford  55  different  possible  trips,  without  change,   as 

PLATE  52. 


ABC 
DIAGRAM  II.     THROUGH     ROUTING: 
55     DIFFERENT     POSSIBLE    RIDES. 

against  the  30  by  the  two  terminal  routes — an  increase  of  83%%. 
This  increase  is  shown  by  the  number  of  those  semi-circles  in 
Diagram  II,  which  extend  above  the  two  heavy  semi-circles,  and 
connect  stations  from  A  to  B  with  stations  from  B  to  C. 

The  increased  opportunities  would  of  course  be  available  also  in 
the   opposite   direction. 

The  average  length  of  possible  rides — as  is  obvious  from  the 
diagrams — would  also  be  greatly  increased  by  through-routing.  The 
total  number  of  possible  rides  by  the  through  route  would  average 
70%  longer  than  those  by  the  two  terminal  routes,  and  the  additional 
rides  made  possible  by  the  through  route  would  average  157%  longer 
than  those  by  the  two  terminal  routes.  For  actual  routes  these 
percentages  of  increase  would  of  course  vary  with  the  number  of 
stations  and  the  distances  between  them,  but  in  every  case  they  would 
be  substantial. 

Through  routing  would  thus  make  the  steam  lines  available 
to  the  local  passenger,  not  only  for  traffic  to  and  within  the  more 
central  portion  of  the  city,  but  for  the  long  rides  from  one  side 
of  town  to  another. 


A  concrete  illustration. 

The  small  plan  at  the  left  shows  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
(Evanston)  line  and  the  Illinois  Central  line  linked  together  as 
they  might  be  into  a  through  route. 

The  Evanston  line  has,  within  the  city  of  Chicago,  10  stations. 
Passengers  can  make  45  different  trips,  each  without  change,  be- 
tween these  stations.  The  Illinois  Central  line  has,  within  the 
city,  28  stations.  Passengers  can  make  378  trips,  without  change, 
between  these  stations.  On  the  two  terminal  routes,  therefore,  pas- 
sengers have  the  option  of  423  different  trips,  without  change. 

If,  however,  these  two  terminal  routes  were  linked  together 
into  one  through  route,  passengers  could  then  have  the  option  of 
703  such  trips,  an  increase  of  280  trips,  or  66%.  While,  too,  the 
423  trips  would  average  5.6  miles,  the  703  would  average  8.7  miles, 
or  55%  more,  and  the  280  would  average  13.4  miles,  or  140%  more. 

The  increases  in  number  and  length  would  be  still  more  strik- 
ing if  Northwestern  stations  outside  the  city  were  included  in  the 
computations. 

48 


CHAPTER  VI. 

STEAM  LINE  THROUGH  ROUTES  IN  OPERATION  OR  PROPOSED  ELSEWHERE. 

H ROUGH  routes  have  been  widely  adopted  on  the  street  railway  lines  of  many  or 
most  cities,  not  merely  because  of  their  operating  and  financial  advantages,  but  be- 
cause of  the  ease  with  which  these  lines,  owing  to  their  occupancy  of  the  streets, 
could  be  physically  connected  through  the  central  districts  of  these  cities. 

The  extreme  physical  difficulties  of  creating  steam  tine  through  routes  in  the 
great  cities  of  the  world,  owing  to  the  lack  of  any  available  channels  for  them  in  the  central  areas 
of  those  cities,  have  in  most  cases  prevented  their  establishment.  Despite  these  difficulties,  how- 
ever, such  routes  have  in  several  notable  instances  been  established,  others  are  being  established 
at  the  present  time,  and  still  others  have  been  recommended. 

In  Chicago  the  physical  obstacles  encountered  elsewhere  to  steam  line  through  routes  are 
minimized  by  the  great  number  of  steam  railroad  rights-of-way  throughout  the  city,  and  espe- 
cially by  the  large  area  of  railroad  property  in  the  business  district.  The  physical  situation  in 
Chicago  is  thus  peculiarly  favorable  for  the  establishment  of  through  steam  routes 


PLATE  Si       MAP  OF  LONDON  .STEAM    RAILROAUS,   1845 

SCALE :     I  l-HCU  =:  ( 


-MAI'  OF   LONDON   STEAM    RAILROADS.  1850. 


Through  routes  could  not  find  room  in  London. 

The  first  great  city  entered  by  steam  railways  was  London.  They  pressed  their  way  as  far 
into  the  town  as  possible,  and  where  they  were  obliged  to  halt,  there  the  terminals  arose. 

The  desirability  of  connecting  these  railways  through  the  city  was  realized,  even  though 
their  future  importance  for  local  travel  was  not  then  appreciated.  A  Royal  Commission  was 
accordingly  appointed  in  1846  to  advise  whether  such  connection  should  be  made.  The  Royal 
Commission  said,  "No,"  and  considering  the  almost  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  find- 
ing or  carving  channels  for  steam  railroads  through  the  heart  of  this  great  historic  capital,  their 
decision  is  not  surprising. 

In  I860,  therefore,  all  steam  lines  into  London  still  ended  at  terminals  scattered  through 
the  city's  middle  zone. 


49 


fKrao^oci 


R  gF  E  RENCE 


REFERENCE 


PLATE  54.      MAP  OF  LONDON  UNDERGROUND  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS,    1910. 
SCALE  :      1  INCH  =  2  MILES. 


Terminals  mean  subways. 

If  the  steam  lines  must  end,  however,  at  awkward  points — distant  from  J/^  mile  to  4  miles 
from  each  other — and  thus  prove  only  a  crippled  means  of  local  travel,  passengers  must  still  get 
across  and  about  London  somehow.  The  first  subways  of  the  world  were,  therefore,  begun  there 
about  1860,  and  London's  great  underground  network  has  been  slowly,  and  at  great  expense,  de- 
veloping ever  since.  With  its  disorder,  waning  popularity  and  financial  failure,  it  is  a  conspicu- 
ous example  of  a  colossal  and  unsatisfactory  makeshift  in  modern  urban  development. 


50 


PLATE  55.     MAP  OF  STREETr-AND-RAILKOAD    ARTERIKS    SUOOE^TED    FOR    LONDON 
BY  ROTAL  COMMISSION    ON   LONDON  TRAFFIC.  1905. 

SCALE:    1  INCR-I  MILE. 


Lx)ndon  needs  through  steam  routes. 

London  has,  for  a  portion  of  its  steam  line  service,  reached  a  sort  of  half-way  through-route 
plan,  by  connecting  some  of  its  main  steam  lines  with  its  subways,  and  thus  running  many  trains, 
both  long-distance  and  suburban,  well  into  or  across  the  central  area  of  the  city,  making  re- 
peated stops  in  that  area.  This  highly  beneficial  plan,  however,  has  proved  insufficient,  and 
the  great  metropolis  still  needs  the  through  routing  of  its  steam  lines  in  a  consistent  and  compre- 
hensive manner. 

The  Royal  Commission  on  London  Traffic,  reporting  in  1905,  declared  that  the  only  plan 
which  would  really  meet  traffic  demands  would  be  to  carve  two  great  axial  avenues,  one  east 
and  west,  the  other  north  and  south,  through  the  heart  of  London,  each  5  miles  long  and  140  feet 
wide,  with  two  levels,  the  lower  for  carrying  the  steam  railroads  (electrified)  through  London, 
and  the  upper  for  tram  cars  and  ordinary  street  traffic.  The  difficulties  are  such  that  these 
avenues  have  not  been  constructed,  but  the  need  for  them,  or  some  equivalent  improvement,  is 
plain  and  urgent. 

51 


?^>*;'" 


^%T^«! 


Ife 


m 


PLATE  56.     MAP  OF  PARIS   STEAM   RAILROADS,    1898. 
SCALE :       1  INCH  =  1  MILE. 


Through  routes  could  not  find  room  in  Paris. 

The  historical  development  of  steam  railroads  in  Paris  was  similar  to  that  in  London  In 
1898,  the  various  lines  ended  in  numerous  terminals  scattered  through  the  middle  zone  of  the  city. 
There  was  "no  room"  to  push  the  lines  through  this  ancient  and  compact  capital,  and  the  ter- 
minals remain. 


52 


PU^TE    57.      MAP    OF    PARIS    UNDERGROUND    ELECTRIC    RAILWAYS,    1913. 

SCALE :       I  LNCB  =  1  MILE. 
P»i»tiin  line*  .  .......Under  construction 


Paris  terminals  mean  Paris  subways. 

Passengers  must,  however,  get  across  and  about  Paris.  And  since  the  steam  lines  did  not 
enable  them  to  do  so — the  steam  terminals  being  distant  from  %  mile  to  4  miles  from  each  other 
— the  "Metropolitan,"  or  underground  railway,  was  authorized  in  1898,  and  is  now  operated  as 
here  shown. 


53 


^x-- 

f 


:i 


r*? 


.  ^ .  i^ — . .  ^^^ ., 


PLATE   58.      STEAM  RAILROAD  MAP  OF  PARIS  SHOWING,  IN  RED,  TWO  STEAM  LINES 
EXTENDED    (ELECTRIFIED)    INTO   INTERIOR   OP  THE   CITY.   1900. 


SCALE : 


1   INCH  =  1  MILE. 


Paris  takes  steps  toward  through  routes. 

Paris  believes  in  bringing  the  most  efficient  means  of  travel  into  the  very  heart  of  the  city, 
where  the  need  is  greatest,  rather  than  in  pushing  these  means  farther  toward  the  outskirts. 

When  Paris  was  getting  ready  for  its  World's  Fair  of  1900,  the  important  Orleans  steam 
line,  from  the  southeast,  was  extended  two  miles  further  into  the  city  to  a  new  station.  Another 
line  was  at  the  same  time  extended  1^  miles  further  in  from  the  west.  This  was  an  approach 
toward  the  through-route  principle  for  the  main  railways.  Although  no  room  could  be  found 
to  put  this  principle  into  real  and  general  effect,  yet  sufficient  room  was  found  in  this  instance  for 
a  substantial  approach  toward  its  proper  application. 


54 


I»5>-*1 


Ifer-KA? 


is?:-i<«. 


PLATE  tar.     PLANS  SHOWING   HISTORICAL   DEVELOPMENT  OF  STEAM  RAILROADS  OF  BERLIN,  1838-1906. 
(INTERNATIONAL  CITY  PLANNING  EXHIBITION,  BERLIN,   1910.) 
SCALE :      1  INCH  =  9  MILES. 


Berlin  pioneers  through  routes. 

A  different  story  from  that  of  London  and  Paris  is  told  by  Berlin.  In  1845,  the  steam  rail- 
roads of  that  city  ended  in  terminals,  as  shown  in  the  first  of  the  upper  row  of  small  plans.  The 
desirability  of  connecting  these  various  lines  was  realized,  and  in  1847  they  were  connected,  as 
shown  in  the  next  small  plan.  But  the  connection  was  laid  through  the  city  streets  and  was 
more  and  more  objected  to,  until  finally,  in  1872,  as  shown  in  the  last  plan  of  the  upper  row,  it 
was  torn  up,  leaving  the  lines  ending  again  in  their  respective  terminals. 

Still  this  condition  was  unsatisfactory,  and  so,  in  1882,  as  shown  in  the  first  plan  of  the  lower 
row,  there  was  completed — partly  by  using  a  river  bank — the  four-track  7-mile  Stadtbahn,  a  link 
running  directly  through  the  heart  of  Berlin  on  embankments  and  arches,  and  connecting  the 
local  and  long  distance  lines  from  the  east  with  those  from  the  west. 


55 


DER    CLEISANLACEN   IN    UND    UM   BERLIN 


p.  ',  n  9 


rv"' 


8fs^    ZZyn.^. 


m, 


c^ 


■M. 


&' 


■KZ 


ait. 


^:'. 


PLATE   60.      PLAN    OF   STEAM    RAILROADS    OF   BERLIN. 
SCALE;      1   INCH  =  lit   MILES. 

Showing: 

In  Black — The  Ringbahn,  or  belt  railway,  5  to  8  miles  across  and  roughly  encircling  the  city,  its  north  half  being  known 
as  the  Nord-Ring  and  its  south  half  as  the  Siid-Ring. 

Other  steam  railways  entering  Berlin  from  different  directions  and  crossing  the  Ringbahn  to  various  terminals. 

In  Red — The  Stadtbahn   (an  east-west  diameter  of  the  Ringbahn)  and  its  connections  to  the  north  and  south  halves  of 
the  Ringbahn,  and  to  local  and  long  distance  lines  to  the  east  and  to  the  west. 
In  Pink  Tint — The  business  district  of  Berlin. 

How  Berlin's  through  route  operates. 

The  Berlin  Stadtbahn  serves  as  the  trunk,  not  only  for  long  distance  passenger  service  from 
the  east  and  the  west,  but  also  for  a  ramifying  local  passenger  service  for  city  and  suburbs. 

Two  of  the  four  tracks  of  the  Stadtbahn  serve  for  local  trains,  some  of  which  fan  out  upon 
suburban  routes  to  the  east  and  the  west,  while  others  run  around  the  north  ring  or  the  south  ring. 
The  other  two  tracks  are  used  to  some  extent  for  this  local  service,  but  they  serve  mainly  for 
long  distance  trains  in  both  directions. 

Trains  for  local  passenger  service  stop  at  each  of  the  13  stations  {see  page  58)  on  this  Stadt- 
bahn, or  link,  and  long  distance  trains  stop  at  five  of  them.  Long  distance  trains  desired  to  run 
through  Berlin  can  do  so.  Long  distance  trains  originating  in  Berlin,  and  destined  westward, 
start  from  a  coach  yard  on  the  east  side  of  the  city  and  stop  at  each  of  the  5  stations;  those  des- 
tined eastward  reverse  this  movement. 

There  are  thus  no  switch-back  train  movements  or  stored  cars  except  at  outlying  coach  yards 
and  the  station  tracks  for  waiting  trains  are  reduced  to  a  minimum. 


56 


PLATE    61.      STATION    AT    ALKXA.NUERI'LATZ— BERLIN    STADTBAHN. 


Berlin's  through-route  stations  unobstructive  but  efficient. 

For  the  success  of  steam  through  routes  it  is  essential  that  they,  or  more  specifically  their 
stations,  should  be  centrally  located. 

Through-route  stations  are  free  of  switch-back  train  movements  and  so  of  the  e.xtra  track- 
age required  therefor.  They  also  need  only  a  minimum  of  trackage  for  waiting  trains.  Their 
width  is  thus  so  reduced  that  they  can  be  placed  at  central  locations  without  serious  impair- 
ment to  the  public  streets. 

The  above  illustration  shows  a  through-route  station  on  the  Stadtbahn  in  the  heart  of  Berlin. 
It  is  a  comparatively  inexpensive  structure,  and  is  so  narrow  that  it  is  not  a  serious  obstruction 
to  the  development  of  the  city  or  to  the  streets  crossed.  Show  windows  and  trade  extend  along 
the  sidewalk  of  the  street  under  the  viaduct.  Yet  this  station  accommodates  about  the  same 
number  of  passengers,  long  distance  and  local  combined,  as  does  the  new  Chicago  &  North- 
western terminal.  The  enormous  train  shed  and  train  yard  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  ter- 
minal, shown  on  page  40,  arc  typical  of  terminal  operation.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the 
public  pays  for  those  mammoth  structures. 


57 


0    '  ieo&. 


ii*:rjtnK';"»i»^» 


PLATE  62.     PLAN  SHOWING  BERLIN  STEAM  LINES,  AND,  BY  WHITE-AND-BLACK     DISKS,     THE     VOLUME     AND     DESTINATION     OF 
LOCAL    PASSENGER    TRAFFIC    AT     EACH     STATION    OF    THE    STADTBAHN    AND    THE    RINGBAHN. 

Berlin's  through  route  develops  city  as  well  as  suburban  passenger  traffic. 

The  black  segments  of  the  disks  at  the  stations  of  the  Stadtbahn  and  Ringbahn,  on  the  above 
plan,  show  the  proportion  of  the  passengers  taking  trains  at  these  stations,  destined  for  other  sta- 
tions on  these  lines,  and  the  white  segments  the  proportion  destined  for  the  stations  on  the  more 
remote  or  suburban  lines.  A  comparison  between  the  black  segments  and  the  white  segments 
shows  that  the  Stadtbahn — and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Ringbahn — provides  local  passenger 
service,  not  alone  for  the  suburbs,  but  still  more  conspicuously  for  the  city  proper  and  its  imme- 
diate environs — an  area,  within  or  near  the  Ringbahn,  roughly  six  by  nine  miles  across. 

This  area  is  small  compared  to  that  of  Chicago — which  extends  26  miles  north  and  south 
and  5  to  9  miles  east  and  west.  The  fact  that  these  Berlin  steam  lines  develop  such  an  important 
intensive  traffic  within  so  limited  an  area,  is  suggestive  of  the  inner  city  passenger  traffic  which 
the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  might  develop,  once  they  were  similarly  linked  up  into  a  system  the 
trunk  factors  of  which  passed  through  the  business  district  and  provided  reasonably  frequent 
stations. 


58 


EISEHBAHN  -  ORT  -  UNO  VORORT-VERKEHR 
VON  BERUN. 


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PLATE  M.     PLAN  SHOWING  VOLUME  OF  LOCAL  PASSENGER  FLOW    ON    DIFFERENT    ROUTES    OF    BERLIN    STEAM    RAILWAYS. 

(RICHARD  PETERSEN,   1911.) 
The  rclatire  irambcr  of  trmins  on  each  line  it  indicated  by  the  relative  width  of  the  line;  the  figures  indicate  the  number  of  trains  daily. 

Berlin's  through  route  exceeds  all  Chicago's  terminal  routes. 
The  above  plan  shows  the  Stadtbahn  as  Berlin's  great  passenger  highway. 

In  1912,  the  Icxal  passengers  taking  trains  at  the  IJ  stations  of  the  Stadtl)ahn  numljcrcd  104,000,000,  and  the  local  passengers 
taking  trains  at  all  the  sutions  of  the  steam  lines  of  Greater  Berlin  nunil>cred  387,000,000  (Cross  Berlin  Slalislische  Monats- 
brreiehlf,  igii.)  For  the  same  year  the  number  of  local  passengers  on  the  steam  lines  of  Greater  Chicago  was  approximately 
41,500.000  (see  fagt  15). 

In  Other  words,  the  7-mile  long,  4-track  Berlin  Stadtbahn  received  approximately  Zj/^  times 
as  many  local  passengers,  and  the  entire  steam  network  in  Greater  Berlin  received  over  eight 
times  as  many  local  passengers,  as  did  all  the  steam  lines  in  Greater  Chicago. 

The  chief  reason  for  this  contrast  is  shown  in  the  above  map,  and  particularly  in  the  wide 
black  east-west  line  measuring  the  enormous  traffic  of  Berlin's  great  through  route.  The  Stadt- 
bahn, traversing  the  city  from  side  to  side  through  the  business  section,  has  not  only  touched  at 
numerous  points  the  chief  areas  in  need  of  high  grade  travel,  but  by  its  various  outer  connec- 
tions it  has  put  to  work,  for  local  passenger  service,  a  large  portion  of  the  general  network  of 
Berlin**  steam  lines. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  this  development  of  local  passenger  traffic  on  steam  lines  has 
taken  place  in  the  city  which  has  the  best  tramway  system  in  Europe. 

59 


Abb.  20.    Llnienplan  der  Fernbabnen  nach  Eberstadt,  MOhring,  Petersen 


PLATE  64. 


PROPOSED   THROUGH-ROUTE   PLAN   FOR    LONG    DISTANCE    PASSENGER 
RAILROADS    OF   BERLIN. 


SCALE : 


1  INCH  =  7  MILES. 


Complete  through  routing  for  Beriin's  long  distance  travel  recommended. 

The  plan  on  page  56  shows  how,  in  Berlin,  the  steam  lines  from  the  north  and  the  south  still 
end  in  terminals.  This  is  recognized  as  a  defect;  and  in  the  official  prize  competition  of  1909 
for  plans  for  the  improvement  of  Greater  Berlin,  three  of  the  four  prize  plans  proposed  through- 
route  connections  between  the  steam  lines  from  the  north  and  those  from  the  south. 

A  complete  through-route  scheme,  as  shown  above,  for  long  distance  traffic  is  recommended 
in  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  plans,  the  proposed  north-south  connection  being  indicated 
by  the  heavy  dotted  line  at  the  center  of  the  plan.  The  scheme  provides  for  operating  long  dis- 
tance trains  through  the  city  where  this  is  desired,  and  for  running  all  other  long  distance  trains, 
by  forward  movement,  through  the  central  part  of  the  city,  to  coach  yards  on  the  outskirts  be- 
yond. 


60 


PLATE   OS.        PROPOSED    THROUGH -ROUTE    PLAN     FOR     LOCAL     PASSENGER     RAILROADS    OF     GREATER 

BERLIN.    (EBERSTADT.  MOHRING.  PETERSEN.) 
SCALE :      1  I.VCH  -  7  MILES. 


Complete  through  routing  for  Berlin's  local  travel  recommended. 

The  same  prize  plan  which  proposed  a  complete  through-route  scheme  for  Berlin's  long 
distance  steam  travel,  proposed  also  a  complete  through-route  scheme  for  Berlin's  local  steam 
travel.  This  scheme  would  for  local  service  employ  extra  tracks  alongside  the  long  distance 
tracks,  and  adjacent  or  branch  lines  would  be  added  as  required,  so  as  to  secure  in  the  course  of 
years  a  comprehensive,  and  presumably  electrified,  high  speed  system  extending  20  miles  in  all 
directions  from  the  center  of  the  city. 


61 


PLATE  66.       MAP  OF  COPENHAGEN,  SHOWING,   (a)  ABANDONED    STEAM   TERMINAL   LINES;    (b)    SUBSTITUTED 
THROUGH-ROUTE    SYSTEM  NEARING  COMPLETION,    1913. 

SCALE:     1    INCH  =  2.4   MILES. 


Old  lines  to  be  kept. 


New  lines. 


Copenhagen  builds  through  route  for  steam  lines. 

A  radical  reconstruction  of  the  steam  railway  network  of  Copenhagen  is  being  completed 
after  ten  years'  work  upon  it.  The  old  terminal  routes  (dotted  black  lines)  and  station  have 
been  abandoned,  and  a  new  (red  lines)  through-route  system  has  been  substituted. 


62 


PLATE  67.         MAP  SHOWING  THE  TWO    EXISTING   STEAM    TERMINALS 

(BLACK)  IN  BRUSSELS,  AND  THE  TUNNEL  CONNECTION  TO 

BE  BUILT  FOR  THROUGH-ROUTE  OPERATION  (RED). 

SCALE:    «K  INCHES—  I  MILK. 


Brussels  builds  through  route  for  steam  lines. 

At  present  the  steam  railroad  lines  of  Brussels  are  groupecl  in  two  terminals  on  opposite 
tides  of  the  city.  These  lines  are  now  to  be  connected  for  through-route  operation,  as  indicated 
in  the  above  plan,  with  an  additional  station  midway  in  the  link.    Work  has  begun. 

Vienna,  Hamburg  and  Stockholm  are  among  European  cities  which  have  carried  out,  or  arc 
projecting,  important  schemes  for  through  routes  on  their  steam  lines,  and  for  the  development 
on  those  routes  of  an  intensive  l(Kal  passenger  traffic. 


63 


PLATE 


THROUGH  ROUTE    (RED)    AT   PITTSBURGH:     PENNSYLVANIA    RAILROAD    SYSTEM. 


Pittsburgh  has  steam  through  route. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  has  for  four  or  five  years  been  operating  a  through 
route  from  Traflford,  about  17  miles  southeast  of  Pittsburgh,  to  and  through  its  main  Pittsburgh 
station,  to  Beaver  Falls,  about  25  miles  northwest.  Formerly  this  stretch  was  divided  at  the 
Pittsburgh  station  into  two  separate  routes. 

This  through  route  has  proven  popular. 


64 


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I'UVTE    69.      STEAM    RAILROAD    MAP    OK    BOSTON,    1S65. 
8CAL.E :     IK  INCHEa  =  I  MUJS. 


Boston's  early  terminal  routes. 

In  1865,  Boston  had  eight  passenger  terminals,  planted  at  different  points  in  the  city,  as 
shown  above. 


65 


PLATE    70.      PLAN    SHOWING    BOSTON'S    STEAM   RAILROADS   GROUPED   IN   TWO   TERMINALS,    1898. 

SCALE  :      1  1N"CH  r=  1.6  MILES. 


Boston's  movement  toward  through  routes  for  steam  lines. 

About  1898,  all  the  steam  roads  entering  the  north  half  of  Boston  had  been  concentrated  into 
the  North  Union  terminal,  and  all  those  entering  the  south  half  into  the  South  Union  terminal. 

The  final  step  logically  demanded  to  complete  this  development  is  obvious,  and,  as  appears 
on  the  opposite  page,  has  been  officially  proposed. 


66 


PLATE  71.      PLAN    SHOWING    (RED)    FOIR  TRACK    TLNNEL   LINK    RECOMMENDED    IIV   THE    BOSTON    METROPOLITAN 
IMPROVEMENTS   COMMISSION   TO   CONNECT  THE    RAILROADS   OK   THE   TWO   TERMINALS.     1909. 

SCALE:      3H  INCIIE8  =   I   UILE. 

Boston  commission  recommends  through  routes  for  steam  lines. 

The  Boston  Metropolitan  Improvements  Commission  recommended  (1909)  that  the  lines  of 
the  North  Union  terminal  should  be  connected  with  those  of  the  South  Union  terminal,  by  a 
4-track  subway  running  through  the  heart  of  old  Boston  and  having  a  new  station  near  the  mid- 
dle point  of  the  link. 

The  Commission  further  recommended  an  interchange  of  coach  yards  between  the  Boston 
&  Maine  system,  and  the  New  Haven  &  Hartford  system,  according  to  the  Berlin  plan,  so  that 
trains  originating  in  Boston  destined  for  the  north  or  northwest,  would  start  from  a  coach  yard 
on  the  opposite  side  of  town  and  stop  at  each  of  the  three  stations,  and  trains  originating  in  Bos- 
ton destined  for  the  south  or  west  would  reverse  the  process.  Long  distance  trains  could  also, 
where  desired,  run  directly  through  the  city.  The  scheme  would  be  especially  convenient  for 
local  passengers,  since  local  trains  would  be  through-routed  and  stop  at  the  three  downtown 
stations. 

The  financial  and  engineering  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  project  are  obviously  very  great, 
but  its  desirability— which  has  been  approved  also  from  the  side  of  the  railroads — would  appear 
to  be  established.  57 


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PLATE  73.     VIEW  OF  "BUSINESS  DISTRICT"  OF  CHICAGO.  FROM  LAKE  MICHIGAN  ON  THE  LEFT  TO  AND 
ACROSS  SOUTH    BRANCH   OF  CHICAGO  RIVER  ON     THE     RIGHT;     LOOKING     SOUTH     FROM     A 
POINT  NEAR  DEARBORN  AND  POLK  STREETS;    TOWER    OF    DEARBORN    STREET    TER- 
MINAL IN   FOREGROUND:  TWELFTH   STREET  VIADUCT  IN  MIDDLE  DISTANCE. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THROUC.H  ROUTES  PRACTICABLE  ON  CHICAGO'S  STEAM  LINES. 

j^JXAM  I  NATION  shows  that,  to  a  large  extent,  the  factors  are  already  in  existence 
[e_:^^i»?;J  for  establishing  through  routes  on  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  for  local  passenger 
i.jAfy.r^jA    service. 

Chicago  being  the  one  great  city  born  after  the  invention  of  the  steam  locomo- 
tive, the  railroads  secured  a  share  of  its  central  space  in  its  early  days.  They  have 
also  been  adding  to  that  share  ever  since.  Chicago's  six  passenger  terminals,  therefore,  from 
one  or  another  of  which  railroads  now  radiate  in  all  directions,  are  close  to  the  very  heart  of  the 
city. 

London's  passenger  terminals  lie  chiefly  around  an  oval  2  miles  by  4  miles  across;  those  of 
Paris  are  equally  remote  from  each  other,  and  both  cities  have  solidly  improved  interiors.  On 
the  other  hand,  five  of  Chicago's  six  terminals  can  be  touched  in  a  mile  walk,  the  sixth  in  a  half- 
mile  more,  and  there  are  609  acres  of  railroad  land,  only  partially  utilized,  in  and  around  the 
heart  of  the  city. 

In  no  other  great  community  are  the  passenger  terminals  so  near  together  as  in  Chicago;  in 
no  other  would  their  connections  be  so  short;  in  no  other  is  there  so  much  room  for  connections. 

Through  routes  would  find  requisite  room  in  central  Chicago. 

The  exceptional  opportunities  in  Chicago  for  central  connections  between  steam  lines  are 
indicated  on  the  map  opposite.  It  shows,  not  only  the  609  acres  of  railroad  land  in  or  bordering 
the  business  district,  but  it  shows  that  nearly  11%  of  this  is  unused,  while  22%  is  only  partially 
used.     The  above  illustration  tends  to  verify  the  conditions  shown  on  the  map. 

The  requisite  space,  therefore,  for  through-route  connections  in  the  business  area  is  obvious- 
ly available. 


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PLATE   75     MAP  SHOWING   STEAM    RAILROADS    ENTERING   THE   UNION    PASSENGER   TERMINAL,  CHICAGO. 


Through  routes  which  could  be  operated  today. 

The  Union  Station  group  of  lines,  shown  in  red  on  the  preceding  map,  are  reproduced 
above  by  themselves. 

From  these  lines  there  could  be  formed  and  put  into  operation  at  once  two  great  north-south 
through  routes,  each  traversing  the  city  from  end  to  end,  the  one  nearest  the  lake  passing  through 
the  Union  Station,  and  the  other  roughly  paralleling  this  from  three  to  five  miles  farther  west; 
also  a  U-shaped  through  route  from  the  northwest,  through  the  Union  Station,  to  the  southwest. 

72 


PLiATE    i«.      MAP  BHOWINO    STEAM    PASSENGER   LINES    ENTEIIINO     CHICAOO     A     NORTHWESTERN     TERMINAL.     THB 
ILUNOIS  CENTRAL  TERMINAL  (AT  RANDOLPH  STREET)  AND  THE  LA  SALLE  STREET  TERMINAL. 


Through  routes  which  could  be  established  by  short  links. 

The  above  map  shows,  in  its  upper  part,  the  existing  system  of  passenger  lines  entering  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  passenger  terminal,  and,  in  its  lower  half,  the  existing  lines  entering 
the  La  Salic  street  terminal  and  the  Illinois  Central  terminal  (at  Randolph  street).  The  termi- 
nals of  these  various  lines  approach  so  near  to  each  other  that  the  question  is  at  once  suggested, 
why  not  connect  them,  so  that  passengers  from  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  city  represented 
may  use  the  rapid  steam  lines  for  interchange  travel?  Such  use  is  practically  prohibited  now 
by  the  downtown  terminal  operation  of  all  these  lines. 

75 


PLATE   77.    DIAGRAM   SHOWING    INBOUND  AND  OUTBOUND  LOCAL  PASSENGER  CAR  FLOW 

ON  THE  VARIOUS  STEAM  LINES  OF  CHICAGO  DURING  THE  EVENING  RUSH  HOUR. 

(ARNOLD  RAILROAD  TERMINAL  REPORT,  1913.) 


Through  routes  adjustable  to  rush  hour  traffic. 

The  above  diagram  shows  the  car  flow  for  local  travel  on  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  during 
the  evening  rush  hour.  A  corresponding  flow,  in  reverse  direction,  occurs  in  the  morning  rush 
hour.  These  rush  hour  pulsations  constitute  the  portions  of  the  day's  traffic  most  difficult  to 
deal  with. 

With  through  routes  established  on  the  steam  lines,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  rush  hour 
trains  in  the  morning  could  be  operated  to  and  through  the  business  district,  to  coach  yards  some- 
what beyond,  and  return  on  their  course  for  the  evening  rush  hour  trafiic.  This  method  of 
operation  would  not  only  make  it  possible  for  trains  both  in  and  out  to  make  several  stops  in  the 
downtown  district,  but  would  obviate  reverse  train  movements  there. 

The  existence  already  of  the  requisite  coach  yard  capacity  for  such  operation  is  shown  on 
the  next  page.  (For  suggested  general  scheme  of  routing,  see  "Elastic  plan  of  train  operation," 
page^X.)  ^^ 


PLATE    Tit.     MAP    SHOWING     (RED    DOTS)     LOCATION    OF    STEAM     PASSENGER    COACH 
YARDS  IN  CHICAGO.     1913.         SCALE;     1  INCH  =  l.«  JULES. 

Through  routes  would  find  interchangeable  coach  yards. 

The  through-route  plan  would  demand  such  an  interchange  of  coach  yards  that  trains  on 
any  line  might  proceed  through  the  city,  by  continuous  forward  movement,  to  a  coach  yard  on 
the  far  side  of  the  city — according  to  the  plan  practised  in  Berlin  and  officially  recommended 
for  Boston.  The  above  map,  giving  location  of  existing  coach  yards  in  different  parts  of  Chi- 
cago, suggests  the  feasibility  of  arranging  the  requisite  interchange.  While  this  plan  should  be 
regarded  as  indispensible  for  trains  for  local  passenger  service,  it  is  also  desirable  in  many  ways 
for  long  distance  trains  terminating  in  Chicago.  With  this  plan  installed  for  both  classes  of 
trains,  no  reverse  train  movements  of  any  kind  would  take  place  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  the 
space  demands  of  central  stations  would  be  correspondingly  reduced. 

75 


Through  routes  represent 
best  transportation  theory. 

Mr.  Richard  Petersen,  one  of 
ablest  transportation  experts  of 
Germany — and  of  the  world — pre- 
sented before  the  Berlin  Institute 
of  Architects  in  1911  the  diagram 
shown  to  the  right,  as  representing 
the  most  economical  and  efficient 
routing  scheme  for  a  trunk  system 
of  high  speed  travel  for  a  great 
modern  city  and  its  suburbs.  All 
routes  are  through  routes. 

The  scheme  could  be  extended 
indefinitely  by  branch  lines,  and 
should,  of  course,  be  supplemented 
by  lower-speed  surface  feeders. 
It  would  put  every  part  of  city  and 
suburbs  in  communication  with 
every  other  part  by  high  speed 
service. 


PLATE  79.     TYPICAL  PLAN  FOR  HIGH-SPEED  PASSENGER  ROUTES  OF 
A  GREAT  CITY.     (RICHARD  PETERSEN.) 
Heavy  lines  indicate  routes;  red  indicates  portions  depressed  or  elevated 
to  secure  separation  of  grades;  shaded  wedges  and  white  spaces  between  rep- 
resent  respectively  occupied  and  park  areas  of  the  city;  outer  circles  typify 
suburbs. 


Best  through-route  plan  adaptable 
to  Chicago, 

The  typical  through-route  scheme  above, 
modified,  as  shown  to  the  right,  to  fit  a  water- 
front city,  corresponds  broadly  with  the  possible 
through  routes  for  Chicago  already  shown  on 
page  72. 

In  other  words,  the  best  in  theory  may  be  ap- 
proximated in  Chicago.  This  is  further  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Arnold's  plan — shown 
in  the  next  chapter — for  through  routes  for  Chi- 
cago, embodies  the  principles  of  the  typical 
through-route  scheme,  although  worked  out 
strictly  with  reference  to  the  Chicago  situation. 


PLATE  80. 


TYPICAL  THROUGH-ROUTE   PLAN  APPLIED 
TO    WATER-FRONT    CITY. 


76 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ARNOLD  SCHEME  FOR  THROUGH  ROUTES  AND  ITS  ADVANTAGES. 

TENTATIVE  plan  for  through  routes  on  Chicago's  steam  lines  has  been  worked 
out  by  Mr.  Bion  J.  Arnold,  representing  the  Citizens'  Terminal  Plan  Committee, 
and  was  presented  to  the  City  Council  Committee  on  Railway  Terminals. 

This  plan,  which  is  shown  in  the  following  pages,  has  not  been  put  forward  by 

Mr.  Arnold  as  a  perfected  or  final  scheme.     The  subject  of  through  routes  for  the 

steam  lines  of  Chicago  has  only  just  begun  to  receive  serious  attention,  and  the  plan  is  in  the 

nature  of  a  preliminary  outline,  to  be  modified  and  completed  as  found  wise  after  further  and 

thorough  study. 

In  the  recent  hearings  before  the  Railway  Terminals  Committee,  on  the  ordinance  for  a  new 
Pennsylvania  passenger  terminal,  the  railroads  declared,  on  the  one  hand,  that  this  plan  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  Arnold  was  impracticable,  and,  on  the  other,  that  they  did  not  wish  to  e.xtend  their 
suburban  ser\'ice.  These  declarations,  however,  can  in  no  way  be  accepted  as  decisive  against 
the  through-route  proposal.  The  Arnold  plan  will  hardly  fail  to  carry  conviction  as  to  the  practi- 
cability and  the  desirability  of  some  comprehensive  through-routing  arrangement  embodying  its 
substantial  features.  The  actual  experience  cited  in  the  foregoing  pages  will  also  enforce  such 
a  conviction. 

The  question,  moreover,  as  to  whether  through  routes  should  be  established  on  the  steam 
lines  does  not  concern  merely  the  railroad  companies,  and  should  not  be  determined  by  their  atti- 
tude toward  an  increase  of  their  suburban  service.  The  question  primarily  concerns  the  public, 
and  if  public  convenience  demands  the  installation  of  such  routes,  and  their  installation  is 
reasonable  and  practicable,  they  should  be  established — this  to  be  done,  of  course,  on  terms  fair 
to  all  interests  involved. 


77 


PLATE  81.     MAP  OF  CHICAGO  SHOWING   POSSIBLE  THROUGH  STEAM  ROUTES    SUGGESTED  BY  BION  J.  ARNOLD,  1914. 

(SHOWN  IN  COLORS  IN  FRONTISPIECE.) 


KEY 

Existing  steam  railway.  Chicago  city  limits,  1914.  •  Existing  station. 

■  •--.proposed  subway  connection.  O  Proposed  new  station. 

The  four  through  routes,  including  branches,  are  identified  by  their  respective  numerals  on  the  margin  of  the  map. 


78 


THE    ARNOLD    SCHEME    FOR    THROUGH    ROUTES    AND    ITS   ADVANTAGES 


Arnold  through  routes  would  cover  greater  Chicago. 


Mr.  Arnold's  proposed  through-route  system  (see  opposite  page;  also  same  map  repro- 
duced in  colors  as  frontispiece)  for  local  passenger  service  on  Chicago's  steam  lines,  penetrates 
the  center  of  the  city,  and  fans  out  through  its  entire  area  to  adjacent  suburbs.  It  comprises  four 
great  through  routes,  or  {Nos.  2  and  j)  through  route  systems,  each  distinguished  on  the  map  by 
a  number. 

Route  Number  i  would  run  north  and  south  nearest  the  water  front.  It  would  comprise 
the  Illinois  Central  line  and  the  Evanston  branch  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  line.  These 
would  be  connected  by  a  subway  continuing  the  Illinois  Central  line  north  under  the  Chicago 
river,  and  then  westward.  This  route  would  extend  southward  through  Hyde  Park,  Pullman, 
Harvey  and  beyond,  and  northward  through  Clybourn  Junction,  Ravenswood,  Rogers  Park, 
etc.,  to  the  north  shore  towns.     (See  detail,  page  82.) 

Route  Number  2  would  be  established  by  connecting  the  Rock  Island  line  with  the  Park 
Ridge  branch  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad.  This  connection  would  be  effected  by 
a  La  Salle  street  subway  from  the  Rock  Island  station  north  to  and  under  the  river,  and  thence 
westward.     (See  detail,  page  82.) 

This  route,  on  the  north,  would  pass  through  Irving  Park,  and  other  northwest  points.  On 
the  south,  it  would  pass  through  Englewood  to  Blue  Island,  with  a  Lake  Shore  branch  at  Engle- 
wood  extending  through  South  Chicago  and  Gary,  and  a  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  branch  at 
Auburn  Park,  e.xtending  through  Roseland  and  Kensington. 

Route  Number  ^\\o\x\dk  comprise  lines  already  physically  connected  at  the  Union  Station, 
namely,  on  the  north,  nvo  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  lines,  one  passing  through  Glen- 
view,  and  the  other  through  Franklin  Park;  on  the  south,  the  Pennsylvania  line  extending 
through  Hammond,  with  the  Chicago  &  Alton  branching  southwest  at  20th  street  and  the 
Wabash  branching  in  the  same  direction  near  Englewood.     (See  detail,  page  82.) 

Route  Number  4  would  be  U-shaped.  It  would  be  established  by  connecting  the  Burlington 
line  coming  in  from  the  west  through  La  Grange,  Riverside  and  Hawthorne,  with  the  Oak  Park 
branch  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad.  The  connection  would  be  made  by  extend- 
ing the  Burlington  line  north  through  the  Union  Station  and  then  westward  to  the  tracks  of  the 
Northwestern  line.    ( See  detail,  page  82. ) 

Presumably  the  number  of  stations  on  many  of  these  lines  would  be  increased,  not  only  in 
the  business  district  (see  detail  p\an,  page  82),  but  elsewhere,  especially  as  traffic  should  grow. 
Margins  of  unbalanced  traffic  here  and  there  would  be  cared  for  by  appropriate  routing  varia- 
tions. 


79 


2  12  3 

PLATE  82.     MAP  OF  CHICAGO  AND  VICINITY  SHOWING  (IN  RED)  POSSIBLE  NORTH-SOUTH,  MID-CHICAGO    THROUGH 
ROUTE,    ON    EXISTING    RIGHTS    OF    WAY,   THREE  MILES  WEST  OF  "LOOP"  DISTRICT. 


Black  lines  show  the  system  of  through  routes  suggested  for  Chicago  by  Arnold.     See  map  on  pa%e  78  and  description  page  79. 


80 


THE    ARNOLD    SCHEME    FOR   THROUGH    ROUTES   AND    ITS    ADVANTAGES 

Possible  mid-Chicago  through  route. 

In  addition  to  the  downtown  through  routes,  shown  on  paye  78,  it  would  probably  be  feas- 
ible to  establish  a  great  through  route  (shown  in  red  on  opposite  page),  30  and  more  miles  long, 
traversing  mid-Chicago  from  north  to  south  3  miles  west  of  the  "loop"  district. 

It  would  be  formed  by  connecting,  near  Rockwell  and  Kinzie  streets,  the  tracks  (see  page 
70)  of  the  Milwaukee  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  with  the  "Pan- 
handle" line  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

This  mid-Chicago  through  route  would  serve  the  great  western  half  of  the  city,  now  desti- 
tute of  any  means  of  rapid  and  continuous  north  and  south  travel.  It  would  pass  through  some 
of  the  most  important  industrial  regions  of  the  city,  and  would  connect  them  with  the  homes  of 
outer  Chicago.  It  would  also  cross,  at  a  considerable  distance  out  from  the  business  center,  the 
proposed  downtown  through  routes  in  such  a  way  as  to  aflford  convenient  interchange  between 
those  routes  outside  that  center. 


Through  routes  would  facilitate  elastic  plan  of  train  operation. 

Not  all  trains  on  the  through  routes  shown  on  the  opposite  page  need  be  operated  from 
end  to  end  of  their  respective  routes.  Some  would  be  so  operated;  others  might  be  operated  on 
the  shuttle  plan  over  that  portion  only  of  a  given  route  calling  for  the  most  service,  and  still 
others,  particularly  extra  trains  demanded  in  the  rush  hours,  might  run,  say,  in  the  morning 
from  one  end  of  a  route  to  and  through  the  central  section  of  the  city  to  convenient  coach  yards 
not  far  beyond,  and  return  in  the  evening.  This  last  mode  of  operation  would  be  practicable 
provided  the  coach  yard  capacity  of  the  city,  shown  on  page  7.\  were,  irrespective  of  the  ques- 
tion of  ownership,  made  available  for  interchange  use  according  to  operating  requirements. 

The  elimination,  by  through  routing,  of  reverse  movements  in  handling  trains  to  and  from 
coach  yards  for  storage  by  day,  would  also  be  an  important  advantage.  Under  the  existing  prac- 
tice trains  requiring  to  be  stored  after  reaching  their  downtown  terminals  in  the  morning,  are 
upon  arrival  there,  taken  back  as  empties  to  coach  yards,  distant  from  y>  mile  to  5  miles,  along 
their  respective  routes.  At  night  they  are  brought  again  to  those  terminals,  and  by  another  re- 
verse movement  arc  started  out  with  their  loads.  With  through  routes  established,  and  with 
existing  coach  yards  freely  available  as  suggested,  all  these  reverse  train  movements  in  the  cen- 
tral part  of  the  city,  with  their  delays,  switching  and  extra  space  requirements,  would  be  obvi- 
ated. 


81 


•  ••.•CHICA&O    AVI 


3 
4 


72""    fO 


PLATE  83. 


DOWNTOWN  DETAIL  OF  PLAN  SUGGESTED  BY  BION  J.  ARNOLD  FOR 
THROUGH  STEAM  ROUTES  FOR  CHICAGO.     1914. 


SHOWING: 

In   colors — Through  steam   routes    (see  frontispiece  and  />a^^  78  for  complete  plan). 

In  black — East-west  subways  suggested  by  Arnold  for  street  or  "Elevated"  cars,  or  both,  in  connection  with  the 

through  steam  routes. 
Solid  lines  indicate  existing  (steam  railway)  tracks,  broken    lines,    proposed    tracks    (in    subways)  ;    solid    circles 

indicate  existing  stations,  open  circles,  proposed  stations. 

82 


THE    ARNOLD    SCHEME    FOR    THROUGH    ROUTES    AND    ITS    ADVANTAGES 

Arnold  through  routes  offer  every  passenger  several  downtown  stations. 

The  plan  on  the  opposite  page  presents  the  downtown  detail  of  Mr.  Arnold's  tentative 
scheme — shown  in  colors  in  the  frontispiece,  and  described  on  page  78 — for  a  system  of  through 
routes  on  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago.    It  is  designed  to  be  suggestive  rather  than  final. 

The  four  through  routes,  numbered  1  to  4  as  on  the  map  on  page  78,  are  shown,  as  in  the 
frontispiece,  in  red,  green,  purple  and  yellow.  They  would  traverse  the  central  business  dis- 
trict north  and  south,  one  along  its  eastern  edge,  one  through  its  heart  and  two  along  its  west- 
ern edge.  The  plan  indicates,  in  broken  red  and  green  lines,  the  proposed  completing  links 
(in  tunnels),  by  which  two  of  those  through  routes  would  be  formed,  together  with  the  e.xisting 
or  proposed  downtown  stations.  At  $3,000,000  per  mile— possibly  a  reasonable  estimate— these 
links  would  cost  approximately  $12,000,000.  With  smokeless  operation,  the  adoption  of  which 
in  the  near  future  is  assumed,  the  tunnels  would  present  no  operating  difficulty. 

The  plan  shows  8  e.xisting  and  7  proposed  stations  down  town.  Whether  it  presents  a  good 
distribution  and  a  proper  number  of  these,  are  questions  for  further  and  careful  study.  The  joint 
station  north  on  routes  1  and  2  (red  and  green)  would  be  a  transfer  station  between  those 
routes.  The  three  joint  stations  on  routes  3  and  4  (purple  and  yellow)  would  be  transfer  sta- 
tions bet\veen  those  routes.  Whether  the  routes  could  be  so  modified  as  to  secure  one  transfer 
station  common  to  all  of  them,  is  perhaps  a  proper  question  for  further  consideration.  The  plan 
provides  for  three  or  more  existing  or  proposed  downtown  stations  for  each  route. 

If  every  passenger,  from  whatever  direction  he  might  come,  could  choose  thus  between 
several  downtown  stations,  located  approximately  Yi  mile  apart,  the  downtown  area  conven- 
iently accessible  to  steam  line  passengers  would  be  materially  increased.  In  other  words, 
through  steam  routes  would,  as  before  urged,  allow  the  business  district  to  grow. 

Steam  line  through  routes  should  determine  plan  of  other  routes. 

The  plan  also  shows  (dotted  black  lines)  two  east- west  U-shaped  subway  routes  suggested 
by  Mr.  Arnold  for  street  or  "Elevated"  cars,  or  both,  crossing  at  low  level  or  touching  the 
steam  line  through  routes  at  their  main  downtown  stations,  and  affording  interchange  between 
these  through  routes.  The  plan  thus  illustrates  too  the  principle  of  knitting  together  different 
sorts  or  classes  of  rail  facilities  for  local  travel.  A  proper  correlation  of  such  facilities  should 
obviate  duplication  of  lines,  conflicts  of  levels,  awkward  connections  or  other  misfits,  and  so 
secure  the  maximum  efficiency.  In  order,  however,  to  insure  such  correlation  it  is  not  only 
necessary  that  there  be  advance  planning,  but  the  routes  of  the  steam  lines,  they  being  the  high- 
est speed  facilities,  should  be  determined  first  of  all,  and  then  the  lower  speed  routes,  street, 
"Elevated,"  or  subway,  be  adjusted  thereto. 

It  is  accordingly  not  safe  to  locate  passenger  subways  of  any  sort  in  the  central  part  of  the 
city — granting  that  such  are  to  be  built  there — before  it  is  known  where  the  main  lines  of  fast  local 
travel,  that  is,  the  steam  lines,  and  their  stations  are  to  be  located  and  at  what  levels.  The  first 
step,  and  the  one  for  which  there  is  real  urgency,  is  therefore  to  determine  the  plan  for  linking 
up  and  properly  utilizing  the  steam  lines,  so  that  improvements  in  other  facilities  may  proceed 
in  harmony  therewith.  Such  improvements  need  not  await  the  completion  of  steam  line  through 
routes,  but  they  should  conform  to  a  proper  plan  of  such  routes.* 

•The  qtK*tion  a»  to  whether,  in  the  tlowntown  district,  the  steam  lines  should  he  carried  under  the  streets,  as  Mr. 
Arnold  propotcs.  or  should,  in  whole  or  in  part,  be  carried  above  the  streets — in  conformity  with  the  "track  elevation" 
policy  applied  to  the  steam  roads  elsewhere  in  the  city— is  not  discussed  in  this  book  further  than  is  necessary  in  simply 
presentinK  Mr.  .Xrnold's  proposals.  This  whole  question  of  the  proper  levels  for  the  steam  lines,  in  their  relations  to  each 
other,  to  other  sorts  of  railways  and  to  the  streets,  is  omitted  as  one  whose  importance  and  complexity  demand  more 
extended  consideration  than  is  here  practicable.  It  is  believed  that  this  question  should  be  made  the  subject  of  a  special 
inquiry, 

83 


Subway  System 

(PROPOSED) 

MAP  OF  GREATER  CHICAGO  SHOWING  ( )  PROPOSED 

••COMPREHENSIVE"     PASSENGER     SUBWAY  SYSTEM.     (CITY 
ORDINANCE  OF  NOVEMBER  3,  1913.) 

GRAY  TINT  =  CITY  OF  CHICAGO.  1914. 

Total  Length  of  Routes— All  in  City— 57.42  Miles. 


PLATE  84. 


"ELEVATED"  SYSTEM 


(EXISTING) 


MAP    OF    GREATER    CHICAGO    SHOWING    (- 


■  )    EXIST- 


ING   "ELEVATED"    PASSENGER    RAILWAY    SYSTEM. 
GRAY  TINT=CITY  OF  CHICAGO,  1914. 

Total  Length  of  Routes  in  City— 59  Miles. 

(Four  of  the  routes  extend  beyond  the  city  hmits.) 


STEAM  SYSTEM— Through- 
route  PLAN. 

(ALL  LINES  EXISTING  SAVE  PROPOSED 
DOWNTOWN   CONNECTIONS) 


MAP     OF     GREATER     CHICAGO     SHOWING     PROPOSED 
THROUGH  -  ROUTE     SYSTEM     FOR    LOCAL     PASSENGER 

TRAVEL  ON    EXISTING  ( )  STEAM    RAILROADS  AND 

PROPOSED     (  )     DOWNTOWN      CONNECTIONS      IN 

TUNNELS.  MAP  COMPRISES  MR.  ARNOLDS  TENTATIVE 
THROUGH  -  ROUTE  SCHEME,  PAGE  78,  AND  ALSO  THE 
••MID-CHICAGO"  THROUGH  ROUTE  SUGGESTED  ON 
PAGE   80. 

GRAY  TINT=CITY  OF  CHICAGO.  J9U. 


Total  Length  of  Routes  in  City— 150  Miles. 

(All  extend  beyond  the  city  limita  to  suburban  towns.) 


Steam  system  the  most  extensive  for  rapid  local  travel. 
The  three  possible  means  of  rapid  local  travel  in  Chicago  are: 

1.  Subway  railroads; 

2.  "Elevated"  railroads; 

3.  Steam  railroads  (presumably  electrified  later). 

The  subway  system,  proposed  by  the  Harbor  and  Subway  Commission,  and  the  existing 
"Elevated"  system  are  shown  on  the  maps  opposite;  the  steam  railroad  through-route  system 
suggested  by  Mr.  Arnold  for  the  steam  lines  (with  the  "mid-Chicago"  through  route  added)  is 
shown  on  the  map  above.  The  three  maps  are  drawn  to  the  same  scale  and  afford  a  graphic 
comparison  of  the  three  systems  in  point  of  extent. 

The  proposed  subway  system  would  be  the  least  extensive  of  the  three.  A  five-mile  radius 
from  the  Post  Office  would  include  the  greater  part  of  its  lines.  It  would  fail  to  reach  not  only 
the  suburbs,  but  also  great  areas  within  the  city  itself. 

The  existing  "Elevated"  system  stretches  somewhat  farther,  but,  with  the  exception  of 
three  surface  extensions  beyond  the  city  limits,  that  system  lies  well  within  a  radius  of  10  miles 
from  the  Post  Office.    It  likewise  leaves  great  areas  of  the  city  untouched. 

The  through-route  system  proposed  for  the  steam  lines  far  surpasses  both  the  others  in  ex- 
tent. Within  the  city  limits  it  comprises  Zj/j  times  as  many  miles  of  routes  as  does  the  more  ex- 
tensive of  the  other  two,  the  "Elevated"  system;  within  the  entire  field  of  the  maps  it  comprises 
3  times  as  many  miles  of  routes  as  does  that  system,  and  beyond  that  field  it  traverses,  in  a  dozen 
different  directions,  the  great  suburban  area,  into  which  the  "Elevated"  system  extends  in  two 
directions  only. 

The  steam  lines,  therefore,  linked  up  as  proposed,  and  penetrating  thus  the  heart  of  the 
city,  would  not  only  ramify  more  widely  over  Chicago  proper  than  the  lines  of  either  the  sub- 
way or  the  "Elevated"  system,  but  they  would  also,  in  a  comprehensive  way,  serve  suburban 
Chicago. 

85 


THROUGH   ROUTES   FOR   CHICAGO'S  STEAM  RAILROADS 


Increased  accommodation  by  entire  Arnold  through-route  scheme. 

It  is  in  point  finally  to  calculate,  under  the  principles  diagrammatically  illustrated  on  page 
48,  the  increase  in  the  number  and  length  of  possible  rides,  within  the  city  limits,  by  the  entire 
Arnold  through-route  scheme.* 

That  scheme  would  connect  up  13  existing  steam  lines  or  branches,  comprising,  within  the 
city,  132  route  miles,  and,  including  the  increase  of  S  in  the  number  down  town,  a  total  of  103 
stations.  The  increase  thus  secured  in  the  number  of  possible  trips  without  change  is  shown  by 
the  following  table : 

NUMBER  OF  DIFFERENT  POSSIBLE  TRIPS  WITHIN  CITY  WITHOUT  CHANGE  (ON  LINES  INCLUDED 
IN  ARNOLD  SCHEME)  BY  TERMINAL  ROUTING  AND  BY  PROPOSED  THROUGH  ROUTING. 


Through 
Route 
No. 

Name  of  Line. 

TRIP5  BY  Terminal 
Routing. 

Trips  by  Through 
Routing. 

1. 

Illinois  Central > 

Chicago  &  Northwestern > 

(Evanston  Line).                                                           J 

423 

741 

2. 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern. .  . " 

Chicago  &  Western  Indiana 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 

Chicago  &  Northwestern 

(Line  through  Park  Ridge). 

199 

533 

3. 

Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago  ...  1 

Wabash 

Chicago  &  Alton 

102 

308 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 

4. 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 1 

Chicago  &  Northwestern ) 

(Oak  Park  Line).                                                           ) 

16 

45     . 

Total  

740 

1627 

INCREASE  IN  NUMBER  OF  DIFFERENT  POSSIBLE  TRIPS  BY  THROUGH  ROUTING. 


.887 


Thus  by  through  routing,  according  to  the  above  scheme,  the  number  of  different  possible 
trips  within  the  city  limits,  without  change,  would  be  increased  from  740  to  1,627,  or  887  trips  = 
120  per  cent.  Furthermore,  if  there  be  counted  also  the  trips  possible  between  certain  lines  by 
a  single  direct  transfer  (under  terminal  routing  at  the  Union  Station;  and  under  through  rout- 
ing at  any  of  the  Canal  street  stations  and  at  the  Ohio  street  station-see  page  82)  the  number 
of  possible  trips  by  terminal  routing  would  be  increased  from  740  to  892,  and  those  by  through 
routing  from  1,627  to  2,213.  The  total  number  of  possible  trips  under  through  routing,  2,213, 
would  thus  exceed  the  total  number  under  terminal  routing,  892,  by  1,321  trips,  or  150  per  cent. 

The  1,321  new  trips  would  also  average  13.8  miles  in  length,  as  against  5.7  miles  for  those 
by  terminal  routing,  and  the  average  length  of  all  possible  trips  under  through  routing  would 
thus  be  increased  from  5.7  miles  to  10.3  miles  =  80.7  per  cent. 

That  this  increase  of  150  per  cent  in  the  number  of  different  possible  trips,  either  without 
change,  or  by  direct  transfer,  and  this  increase  of  80.7  per  cent  in  the  average  length  of  different 
possible  trips,  would  mean  an  enormous  addition  to  Chicago's  facilities  for  comfortable  high- 
speed local  travel,  need  not  be  argued. 

*  The  Arnold  scheme  comprises  only  routes  passing  through  the  downtown  district.  It  does  not  include  the  "mid-Chicago" 
route  suggested  on  page  80,  which  if  taken  into  account  would  materially  add  to  the  increased  accommodation  shown. 

86 


CHAPTER  IX. 
SUMMARY. 

Local  passenger  service  on  the  steam  lines  of  Chicago  has  not  increased  in  recent  years  in 
due  proportion  to  the  increases  on  other  railways.  Some  of  the  steam  railroads  have  closed 
local  stations  and  taken  oflf  local  trains,  saying  they  did  not  pay.  Railroad  managers  may  also 
be  heard  to  say  that  they  would  gladly  discontinue  the  suburban  service  which  they  now  main- 
tain. 

If  the  steam  railroads  find  their  local  passenger  service  insufficiently  remunerative,  a  reason 
is  not  far  to  seek.  The  "Elevated"  and  street  car  lines  give  each  passenger  the  option  of  from 
10  to  40  different  stops  in  the  business  area  (bounded  by  22nd  street,  Michigan  boulevard,  Chi- 
cago avenue  and  Halsted  street),  while  most  steam  trains  stop  therein  at  one  arbitrary  point  only. 
The  street  car  and  "Elevated"  lines  carry  their  passengers  from  one  division  of  the  city  to  another 
by  through  cars  or  direct  transfer,  while  the  steam  lines  offer  their  passengers  neither  through 
cars,  convenient  inter-station  service,  nor  even  connecting  trains.  It  is  inevitable,  under  these 
circumstances,  that  the  steam  lines  should  lose  traffic. 

Roughly  speaking,  there  are  three  kinds  of  local  passenger  business  which  the  steam  lines 
should  handle,  namely: 

1.  Traffic  to  and  from  the  small  congested  kernel  of  the  business  district. 

2.  Traffic  to  and  from  the  surrounding  portions  of  that  district — portions  less  congested 
but  more  e.xtensive,  and  fast  filling  up  with  business. 

3.  Traffic  not  destined  for  any  part  of  that  district,  but  taking  place  between  points  in  one 
and  points  in  another  of  the  three  great  geographical  divisions  of  the  city,  or  their  adjacent  sub- 
urbs. 

The  steam  lines  now  handle — and  with  terminal  routing  can  handle — f)nly  the  first  of  these 
three  classes  of  traffic.  If  they  would  install  through-routing,  they  could  handle  the  other  two 
classes  also. 

Through  routes  on  Chicago's  steam  lines  would  benefit  the  railroads  themselves,  would 
greatly  increase  the  means  and  rapidity  of  local  travel,  would  aid  the  central  as  well  as  the 
outer  portions  of  the  city,  and  would  in  many  other  ways  serve  the  welfare  of  the  people. 


87 


THROUGH  ROUTES   FOR  CHICAGO'S  STEAM   RAILROADS 

Through  routes  would  benefit  the  railroads. 

Through  routes  would  aid  the  railroads  by  eliminating  reverse  train  movements  in  central 
stations,  by  lessening  thus  the  number  of  station  tracks  required,  by  reducing  in  this  way  the 
size  and  cost  of  stations,  by  rendering  the  latter  admissible  thus  at  central  locations,  by  inter- 
changing coach  yards  and  so  minimizing  waste  mileage  to  and  from  them,  and  by  introducing 
a  new  era  of  development  for  the  local  passenger  business  of  the  steam  lines.  They  would  also 
aid  the  railroads  by  feeding  long  distance  traffic  and  by  smoothing  the  way  for  through-routing 
long  distance  trains  where  desired.  They  would,  furthermore,  accomplish  all  these  various 
benefits  by  employing,  in  the  main,  existing  facilities,  easily  capable  of  much  more  extensive  use 
and  requiring  a  smaller  new  investment  than  any  other  scheme  of  equal  promise. 

If  railroad  presidents  will  seek  their  monuments  in  the  local  development  of  our  cities, 
rather  than  in  pretentious  architectural  piles — surrounded,  perhaps,  by  ugliness — and  if  the 
steam  lines  will  accordingly  put  their  speed  at  the  service  of  the  public  on  an  up-to-date  scheme 
of  routing,  local  passenger  traffic  on  those  lines  will  assume  entirely  different  proportions. 

Through  routes  would  speed  up  travel. 

Through  routes  would  vastly  increase  the  means  and  the  convenience  of  travel.  By  provid- 
ing a  few  comparatively  short  links,  they  would  bring  into  more  intensive  use  for  local  passen- 
ger service,  and  on  a  new  and  comprehensive  plan,  an  entire  system  of  existing  lines  of  the 
highest  speed,  ramifying  throughout  Chicago  and  into  the  surrounding  country.  By  enabling 
passengers  to  ride  from  one  of  these  lines  to  another  without  change,  and  also  to  transfer  at  junc- 
tion points,  they  would  more  than  double  the  number  of  different  possible  continuous  trips  or 
direct  transfer  trips,  from  one  station  to  another  station  on  Chicago's  existing  steam  lines.  They 
would  abolish  the  awkward  hiatus  in  steam  travel  at  the  business  center,  by  reason  of  which  it  is 
now  impracticable  to  use  the  steam  lines  for  cross-town  journeys,  and  would  redqce  thus  by  from 
20%  to  50%  the  time  required  for  a  considerable  portion  of  such  journeys. 

They  would  make  it  possible  for  a  much  larger  proportion  than  at  present  of  the  entire 
travel  of  Chicago  to  proceed  at  the  steam  line  speed.  They  would  effect  thus  an  enormous  sav- 
ing of  time  to  the  community,  while  reducing  also  the  excuses  for  over-crowded  and  dangerously 
speeded  street  cars. 

They  would  secure  the  maximum  convenience  for  doing  business  in  any  part  of  Chicago, 
irrespective  of  one's  residence. 

Through  routes  would  serve  all  Chicago. 

Through  routes  would  aid  the  business  district.  By  lessening  the  width  of  stations  they 
would  economize  downtown  space  and  reduce  the  length  of  subways  under  or  viaducts  over  train- 
sheds  and  yards.  By  furnishing  more  express  travel  they  would  tend  to  lessen  the  congestion 
from  automobiles  in  downtown  streets,  and  by  bringing  passengers  nearer  their  destinations  by 
means  of  additional  central  stations  they  would  tend  to  relieve  the  congestion  of  downtown 
sidewalks. 

Through  routes  would  benefit  the  territory  next  beyond  the  business  district.  They  would 
release  that  district  from  the  compression  of  terminal  routing,  and,  through  the  additional 
downtown  stops,  distribute  business  over  a  wider  central  zone. 

Through  routes  would  benefit  all  Chicago,  city  and  suburbs.  Being  continuous  routes, 
traversing  the  business  area  and  also  stretching  far  beyond  the  city  limits,  they  would  afford  con- 
venient and  speedy  intercommunication  between  different  parts  of  the  city,  between  all  parts  of 

88 


SUMMARY 

the  cit\'  and  all  parts  of  the  suburbs,  and  between  the  different  suburbs  themselves.  They  would 
serve  and  tend  to  build  up  all  of  Greater  Chicago. 

Through  routes  cheapest  and  best. 

Through  routes  would  mean  more  home  life  for  the  people.  They  would  take  passengers 
to  cheap  land  and  encourage  thus  the  provision  of  better  homes  and  more  liberal  spaces  about 
them. 

Through  routes  would  promote  the  better  health  of  the  people.  They  would  mean,  not  only 
travel  according  to  the  steam  line  standards  of  comfort,  but  also  travel  on  rights-of-way  now 
mainly  elevated  above  the  streets  and  thus  permanently  assured  of  the  open  air  and  the  sunlight. 

Through  routes  would  save  money  for  the  people.  They  would  mean,  not  vast  sums  for  a 
new  plant,  but  comparatively  modest  sums  for  the  more  intensive  use  of  a  great  existing  plant  now 
operated  far  below  its  capacity.  They  would  mean  greater  benefits  per  dollar  expended  than 
would  any  other  contemplated  transportation  enterprise.  Chicago  must  have  additional  facili- 
ties for  high  speed  passenger  service.  The  agitation  for  subways  enforces  this  fact.  If  these 
facilities  can  be  secured  by  extending  the  use  of  existing  properties  instead  of  building  a  new  sys- 
tem, the  people — who  must  ultimately  pay  for  the  latter — will  save  the  cost. 

Chicago — city  and  suburbs — should  have  the  best  means  of  fast  local  travel — safe,  comfort- 
able, sunlit.    Through  routes  on  the  steam  lines  can  best  provide  this — and  at  the  least  expense. 


89 


The  Ralph  Fletcher  Seymour  Company 
Alderbrink  Press,  Chicago 


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